OPINION: FIGHTING FOR TEXAS FARMLAND: THE BATTLE AT MULESHOE (8/2/2024)

OPINION

FIGHTING FOR TEXAS FARMLAND: THE BATTLE AT MULESHOE

An Editorial by Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller

August 2nd, 2024

Our nation’s agriculture industry is under siege, and the alarm bells are ringing loud and clear in the Texas Panhandle. The federal government is at it again, pushing for another major land grab at the Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge. While the feds like to dress up their land acquisitions as conservation and habitat protection, it’s clear this move is about more government control, and it comes at a high cost for Texas farmers and threatens our agriculture industry, our freedoms, and way of life. We must fight to keep every acre of farm and ranch land in the hands of Americans, not the government, starting right here in Texas.

Make no mistake: conservation is crucial. After all, farmers and ranchers are the original stewards of God’s creation, nurturing it to provide for our families and nation. But the Biden/Harris Administration is all too eager to snatch up more land, pushing to expand existing national parks and refuges.

This land grab aims to increase the Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge from its current 6,440 acres to 700,000 acres—a 1000% increase in size. If this federal overreach is successful, the refuge will span 15 Texas counties and 5 counties in New Mexico.

It is all a part of the Biden/Harris Administration’s 30x30 agenda, or ‘America the Beautiful.’ Right out of the gate, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris made this a top priority and pushed it through by executive order—no Congressional vote, no public input. Their plan is to take 30% of our productive land out of use by 2030. And it doesn’t stop there—next is the 50-50 plan to remove 50% of our land from production by 2050. This isn’t just a land grab; it’s a full-scale attack.

The federal government can’t even manage what land it does control and is left with billions in maintenance backlogs to account for. If it’s struggling to take care of what it owns now, why in the world is it trying to grab more?

Grabbing more farmland and ranchland during economic instability lacks common sense, but so does the current leadership in Washington, D.C. Texas needs more food production, not less. Last year, we imported $16 billion dollars of food than we exported. This trade inequity is forecast to double to $32 billion this year. If we keep this up, we won't be able to feed ourselves.

Not only will these land grabs hurt agriculture, they'll also shut down oil and gas, timber, mining operations, new pipelines, railroads, highways, and more.

We’re staring down a national debt of nearly $35 trillion. More federal land means less private land on the tax rolls and more money needed for management—money that comes straight out of your pocket as a taxpayer. They can claim taxpayer funds aren’t used for these purchases, but let’s be honest: the burden still falls upon us.

While the new land purchases to expand the Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge are supposedly "voluntary,” the real question remains: why on earth does the federal government need more land? The answer is that it doesn't.

I don’t understand why the Biden/Harris Administration prioritizes certain bureaucratically dressed up “endangered” species, like the Lesser Prairie Chicken and Dune Sagebrush Lizard, over the needs of hard-working Americans. We should be able to strike a balance that benefits both people and wildlife. Farmers and ranchers, who have been stewards of the land for generations, know how to care for it better than any Washington, D.C. based bureaucrat.

As Texans, we value our independence, cherish our liberties, and resist excessive government control. We know the worth of our land and the hard work that caring for it demands. We’re not going to stand idly by and let federal overreach disrupt our way of life. I am going to fight to keep Texas land in the hands of Texans, where it belongs. It's a fight worth fighting. I hope you will join me!