The perennial balancing act between public lands and private property captivated a House panel Tuesday as lawmakers reviewed several bills, including one that would stop the potential expansion of a national wildlife refuge in Texas.
Authored by Rep. Jodey Arrington (R-Texas), H.R. 839 would block the Fish and Wildlife Service’s plan for the Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge.
The plan finalized last year would authorize the refuge’s expansion to as much as 700,000 acres through acquisition or conservation agreements reached with willing landowners. The refuge currently spans 6,440 acres.
“The federal government, as my dad would put it, needs more land like I need a hole in the head,” Arrington said Tuesday at the hearing of the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries.
