No FED in West Texas Act
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The bill would bar the Interior Department from finalizing or enforcing its 2023 plan to expand the Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge in Texas, which envisioned buying land or conservation easements on up to 700,000 acres along the Texas-New Mexico border.
It responds to local concern that a federal land-acquisition push in the Southern High Plains could reduce the property-tax base and shift large amounts of private ranchland into federal ownership or easement.
What this bill would do
What it would do
The bill would prohibit the Secretary of the Interior from finalizing, implementing, administering, or enforcing the Final Land Protection Plan and Environmental Assessment for the Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge, published by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in February 2023. That plan proposed expanding the refuge by purchasing land or acquiring conservation easements on as much as 700,000 acres in the Southern High Plains region straddling the Texas-New Mexico border.
The bill is narrow and self-executing: it does not repeal the refuge itself, alter any other Fish and Wildlife Service program, or create new authority. It simply blocks this one named 2023 plan from moving forward, leaving the existing, smaller refuge footprint unchanged.
Key provisions
- 1Would prohibit the Interior Secretary from finalizing, implementing, administering, or enforcing the February 2023 Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge Land Protection Plan and Environmental Assessment
Who would be affected
Landowners and ranchers in the Southern High Plains region of West Texas and eastern New Mexico who could have been approached for land purchases or conservation easements, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Interior Department staff managing Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge, and local governments concerned about property-tax revenue.
Why it matters
If enacted, landowners in the affected counties would not face potential federal buyouts or easement offers tied to this plan, and local tax bases tied to private land would stay intact. The refuge would remain limited to its current boundaries rather than expanding by up to 700,000 acres as proposed.
What would change
Agencies directed to act
Funding and costs
Congressional Budget Office estimate
CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 839 would have no effect on the federal budget, with zero impact on direct spending, revenues, or the deficit over the 2026–2036 period.
H.R. 839 would prohibit the Secretary of the Interior from implementing a Fish and Wildlife Service land acquisition plan for up to 700,000 acres surrounding the Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge in west Texas and eastern New Mexico. Because the Fish and Wildlife Service formally withdrew that plan in July 2025, enacting the bill would simply codify existing agency policy. As a result, CBO estimates zero effect on direct (mandatory) spending, revenues, the deficit, and discretionary spending subject to appropriation for 2026, 2026–2031, and 2026–2036. CBO also found no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates in the bill.
Legislative status & sources
Latest action
Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 374.
Official CRS summary
Show the CRS summaryHide the CRS summary
This bill prohibits the Department of the Interior from finalizing, implementing, administering, or enforcing its 2023 final land protection plan and environmental assessment for the Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge in Texas. The plan allows Interior to expand the refuge and purchase lands or acquire conservation easements on up to 700,000 acres of land in the Southern High Plains region along the Texas-New Mexico border.
Legislative subjects
Department of the Interior; New Mexico; Public Lands and Natural Resources; Texas; Wilderness and natural areas, wildlife refuges, wild rivers, habitats; Wildlife conservation and habitat protection
Committee report
H. Rept. 119-435