Jocelyn Nungaray National Wildlife Refuge Act
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This law renames the Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge in Texas as the Jocelyn Nungaray National Wildlife Refuge, honoring a 12-year-old Houston girl who was murdered in 2024, and gives statutory backing to a prior executive order that made the same change.
What this law does
What it does
This law renames the Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge in the State of Texas as the "Jocelyn Nungaray National Wildlife Refuge." It also provides that any existing law, map, regulation, document, or other federal record referring to the Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge is deemed to refer to the Jocelyn Nungaray National Wildlife Refuge instead.
The law codifies in statute a renaming that President Trump had already ordered by Executive Order 14229 in March 2025. It makes no change to the refuge's boundaries, management, funding, or purpose — the only effect is the change of name and how references to it are treated in federal records.
Key provisions
- 1Renames the Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge in Texas as the Jocelyn Nungaray National Wildlife Refuge.
- 2Deems any existing law, map, regulation, or federal record referencing the old refuge name to refer to the new name instead.
Who is affected
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which manages the refuge, along with visitors, mapmakers, and any federal agencies or publications that reference the Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge by name will need to use the new designation going forward.
Why it matters
The change is symbolic rather than operational: it permanently memorializes Jocelyn Nungaray in federal law and ensures the renaming carried out by executive order has a statutory basis, but it does not alter how the refuge is run, funded, or protected.
What changed
Agencies directed to act
Legislative status & sources
Latest action
Became Public Law No: 119-30.
Official CRS summary
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This act renames the Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge located in Anahuac, Texas, as the Jocelyn Nungaray National Wildlife Refuge.
The act provides statutory authority for Executive Order 14229, which also renamed the refuge as the Jocelyn Nungaray National Wildlife Refuge.
Legislative subjects
Public Lands and Natural Resources; Texas; Wilderness and natural areas, wildlife refuges, wild rivers, habitats; Wildlife conservation and habitat protection