Court allows Trump admin to exchange land with Musk’s SpaceX in Texas
A U.S. federal court has approved a land exchange between the Fish and Wildlife Service and SpaceX in South Texas.
Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr denied a preliminary request from the plaintiffs to block the exchange, ruling that they failed to show SpaceX’s operations could pose environmental risks in the Gulf Coast area.
“This land exchange is a win-win for the American people that achieves significant benefits for conservation and national security,” said principal deputy assistant attorney general Adam Gustafson of ENRD. “The United States will acquire several hundred acres of high-quality habitat in the Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge that the Fish and Wildlife Service seeks to protect, and SpaceX will acquire land with a lower biological value that will help it achieve its mission for NASA and the Air Force.”
The federal wildlife refuge land being transferred to SpaceX is part of a 103,000-acre Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge, which protects several wildlife habitats and historical sites.
In June, the FWS initially approved the exchange.
SpaceX agreed to transfer 683 acres of land to the government for more than 700 acres of federal refuge land.
In its final assessment, the agency said the exchange would have no significant impact on the area.
Environmental groups, including the Centre for Biological Diversity, have legally opposed the land exchange, saying the company’s operations would affect the public wildlife refuge.
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