The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has finalized a Land Protection Plan (LPP) to expand the Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge’s (NWR) acquisition boundary to 7 million acres.
The boundary encompasses 14 counties in West Texas and five in Eastern New Mexico.
Within it, the FWS aims to deliver permanent conservation of up to 700,000 acres of land for the benefit of wildlife.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge in 1935.
In January 2021, President Biden signed an Executive Order 14008 called “America the Beautiful”. This Order is to secure 700,000 acres, 30% of America’s Land and Ocean by the year 2030 and is also referred to as the 30x30 Land Grab.
The “Land Protection Plan” area is located in Lamb, Bailey, Parmer, Castro, Yoakum, Lubbock, Hockley, Cochran, Hale, Gaines, Dawson, Garza, Lynn, and Terry Counties in Texas; and Lea, Chaves, Roosevelt, De Baca, and Curry Counties in New Mexico.
Under the plan, land within the acquisition boundary can only be purchased from willing sellers. One method is “fee title” in which the federal government acquires most or all rights to the property. The other method is a conservation easement in which the landowner retains ownership but sells certain rights.
This plan could take 30-to-40 years to complete. Once the land is purchased, parts of it will go public, either for hunting, hiking, camping, or bird watching.
The plan is believed to benefit local economies from members who are in support of the plan. In regard to socioeconomics, the draft states Muleshoe NWR provides various recreational activities with camping and wildlife observation being the most popular.
The refuge attracts visitors from nearby communities, but most visitors come from outside the local area. Local community businesses, including restaurants, grocery stores, motels, service stations, and sporting goods stores profit significantly from these public use programs.
Muleshoe NWR’s annual budget is approximately $400,000, and most of this money is recycled in the local economy through refuge staff salaries, purchases from local suppliers, and service contracts.
While land owned by the U.S. Government is not taxable by state or local authorities, the FWS compensates local governments for foregone tax revenues. The Refuge Revenue Sharing Act of June 15, 1935, as amended (16 U.S.C. 715s) requires the FWS to make payments to local taxing authorities, typically counties, to at least partially offset the loss of local tax revenues as a result of federal acquisition of private property.
The FWS makes annual payments to local taxing authorities, based on the estimated values of lands that the FWS owns located in those jurisdictions. The actual Refuge Revenue Sharing payment does vary from year to year because Congress may or may not appropriate sufficient funds to make full payment. Properties subject to conservation easements remain on the tax rolls and taxes are still paid by the landowner. The FWS does not pay refuge revenue sharing on easement rights.
According to a Land Protection Plan draft that was published in November 2022, the goal is to deliver in-perpetuity conservation of up to 700,000 acres of land, enhancing wildlife populations, preventing future listing of endangered or threatened species, and supporting the delisting of listed species.
This LPP represents nearly 15 years of research by the FWS, the Playa Lakes Joint Venture, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, New Mexico Game and Fish Department, The Nature Conservancy, and many other conservation partners.
In the fall of 2021, the director of the FWS approved a Land Protection Strategy, acknowledging the basis for the plan and the viability of the conservation partnerships refuge staff.
In regard to boundaries, the proposed expansion area for this LPP is delineated by a limited acquisition boundary in which the FWS would be authorized to acquire up to 700,000 acres out of a larger 7 million acre footprint. This acquisition boundary is referred to interchangeably as the Conservation Partnership Area (CPA) throughout the plan because the FWS is one of many entities working toward conservation outcomes within this area. Within the CPA, the FWS and its partners will focus on the priority areas where acquiring lands only from willing sellers would have the most conservation impact.
As opposition of the plan has gained more attention, spearheading the movement is American Stewards of Liberty, a property rights organization based in Austin, whom believes it’s a direct attack on local economies.
Talking points against the overall plan can be found on their website at https:// americanstewards.us/issues/ 30x30/.
The group is call the plan the largest unauthorized federal land grab the nation has faced. A counterpoint to the plan states the more land the government owns, the less power the people have to keep the government in check.
Additionally, eliminating the citizens’ ability to make the best decisions for their land will cause immeasurable damage. to the economy, natural resources and the land they claim to be protecting.
More information can be found including PDF files for download. The group will be holding a public meeting as Texas AG Commissioner Sid Miller, American Stewards of Liberty and Locally Elected Leaders from Texas and New Mexico will discuss the plan and how it will impact community members property rights.
The meeting is set July 25 beginning at 7 p.m. at the Lamb County Agriculture Building located at E. 17th Street in Littlefield.
For more information provided by the FWS regarding the plan, individuals can go to their website and use their search bar by typing “Expanding Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge.”