Natural Resources

Food is a necessity for life, and agriculture is Arkansas's largest economic sector. The American economy and our basic existence depend on farmers. Almost everything that we use in our daily lives can be traced in some way to farm production or natural resource extraction. From crops to cattle, farmers support an economic chain that affects every single one of our lives.

I've lived in Arkansas my whole life and have spent years fishing and hunting in the best lakes and forests, but I am constantly taken aback by the beauty of our state when I visit new places. As members of Congress headed back to their districts for the beginning of October, I was able to see some of these new places through a tourism tour across the region.

Seasonal change always brings a new round of cleaning and organizing in my house, and the federal government would do well to follow this example. I often talk about bureaucracy and red tape slowing down good governance, and there is perhaps no better example of this than in the way the federal government catalogues its assets. That's why Wisconsin Congressman Ron Kind and I introduced the Federal Land Asset Inventory Reform (FLAIR) Act earlier this year, and the Natural Resources Committee debated the act this week.

As Congress's August recess concludes, I've had the opportunity to wrap up some much-needed time in the district with a week of forestry meetings. Both Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue and U.S. Forest Service (USFS) Chief Vicki Christiansen visited Arkansas this week, and their time in the Natural State highlighted the importance of forest management.