By Will Biagini
As the federal government puts private land along the Texas-New Mexico border in the crosshairs of acquisition, current and former lawmakers from both states are uniting against the land grab.
The Land Protection Plan aims to seize 700,000 acres of private land in the Southern High Plains region and put it under federal control. It was finalized by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service earlier this year.
The plan is also a part of the Biden administration’s since-rebranded “30×30” initiative, which schemes to federalize 30 percent of the country’s land and oceans by the year 2030.
“I think there’s cause for concern for this particular initiative by the federal government,” said Republican U.S. Rep. Jodey Arrington (TX-19) in an interview with KAMC News. Arrington confirmed that this is part of a broader “land grab by the federal government – a stated goal by the Biden administration for the federal government to own 30 percent of land in our country.”
In early July of this year, Arrington sent a letter to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service expressing his concerns about the Biden administration’s efforts to subdue private lands under federal control in the name of “conservation.”
Arrington’s letter highlights the concerns of his constituents—which include how the land grab will affect property values and taxation, whether or not the plan will cap economic growth, and what oversight processes the plan will have.
On the New Mexico front, former U.S. Rep. Yvette Herrell authored an op-ed explaining that the land grab expansion circumvents not only congressional authority, but also private property owners and local governments, who have been excluded from the process. Herrell, also a Republican, argues that the land grab will have devastating consequences.
“It will eliminate a portion of every local community tax base, reduce oil and mineral production in our state, and cheat private property owners out of future economic opportunities on the lands they have lived and worked on–in some cases for generations,” she wrote.
In response, American Stewards of Liberty is hosting a landowners’ meeting in Littlefield, Texas on July 25. The nonprofit property rights organization argues that the key to stopping the federal land grab is by educating the grassroots about the problem.
“Our primary focus for this meeting is to help landowners understand the impacts of this Federal expansion on their private property rights, their community and the States,” ASL Executive Director Margaret Byfield told Texas Scorecard Thursday.
“There will be experts covering all the key points as well as a panel of leaders from Texas and New Mexico to answer landowner’s questions. We are confident once people are fully informed they will stand up against this Federal overreach.”
Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller is expected to attend the meeting.
Will Biagini serves as a journalist with Texas Scorecard. Previously, he was a senior correspondent for Campus Reform.
Originally published by the Texas Scorecard. Republished with permission.
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