Senator Ted Cruz has introduced the “No FED in West Texas Act” l to prevent future administrations from implementing plans that would expand federal control over land in West Texas.
Senator Cruz says that “West Texas is vital to economic growth and energy for Texans, and decisions about its land should belong to Texans…” The bill specifically targets the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Land Protection Plan of 2024, which would have allowed the federal agency to buy private land or acquire conservation easements from willing sellers on up to 700,000 acres in Texas and New Mexico to expand the Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge.
The plan aimed to protect and restore grasslands that are an essential habitat for migratory birds and other wildlife by working with willing sellers to expand conservation efforts. However, it received extreme backlash from Reps. Jodey Arrington and Ronny Jackson, who claimed the expansion threatened agricultural production and energy development in the area, and allowed for overreaching federal authority.
The Fish and Wildlife Service withdrew the final Land Protection Plan for the refuge in 2025, but the No FED bill seeks to codify this decision to prevent future efforts to expand federal control in the area.
Companion legislation to the No FED bill has been introduced in the House of Representatives by Rep. Jodey Arrington. The “Transparency in Federal Land Acquisition Act” would require a public comment period in the Federal Register before the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service finalizes any new Land Protection Plans.
Arrington states, “For far too long, government bureaucrats have jammed through plans to expand federal land by hundreds of thousands of acres without any input or feedback from the communities affected.”
Both Cruz and Arrington believe the bill will protect Texas communities from federal overreach, safeguard private property rights, and prevent land grabs that might threaten jobs, limit energy, and prevent agricultural development.