In a commentary published on the opinion section of myrgv.com, Cameron County Judge Eddie Treviño Jr. said he now supported a land swap between SpaceX and Texas Parks and Wildlife (TPWD) for conservation reasons.
“This exchange isn’t merely about swapping parcels of land,” Treviño wrote. “It’s about safeguarding the very essence of what makes Cameron County unique within the vast expanse of Texas.”
Treviño’s position is a contrast from a letter he sent just a month ago to TPWD that confronted the agency for not informing the county of plans to exchange 43 acres of land in Boca Chica State Park to SpaceX for 477 acres of land between Laguna Vista and Laguna Heights.
In that letter, one of more than 1,000 that TPWD received in opposition to the land exchange before the agency was set to vote on the exchange, Treviño said that the county had been working on developing the two tracts of land. Treviño then asked that the county be involved in developing the parcels of land.
A source familiar with the negotiations told TPR that the county had been working to acquire the land for nearly a year.
Faced with public backlash, TPWD commissioners pulled the item from their January meeting. The commissioners rescheduled the vote for March 4 in a move that TPWD Commission Chair Jeffery Hildebrand said was an attempt to not “deviate from the standard protocol that [TPWD uses] to acquire acreage” and for “more transparency.”
The county’s plans included developing a portion of the 477 acres into a kayak launching area and nature trail, funded by a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) grant that the county had applied for in January at the suggestion of the agency. The county then wanted to buy the remaining acres using money from the RESTORE Act the county received after the BP oil spill in 2010, according to Cameron County Commissioner David Garza, who was the most outspoken county official against the land swap.
Treviño referred back to his initial stance in his opinion letter, saying the county initially felt “left in the dark” by TPWD. Now, he said that the county is committed to sustainability and environmental responsibility and that this land swap was part of that.
“This exchange is a testament to the power of collaboration and forward-thinking stewardship,” Treviño wrote. “It also demonstrates that we can strike a balance between development and conservation, that we can protect our precious natural resources while also providing for the needs of our growing community.”
But because the land was already going to be used for conservation by the county, the land exchange will likely not provide the public with any benefit that wasn’t already in the works.
The land exchange was criticized as not taking conservation into account at all, considering that SpaceX is looking to expand into state park land. Though SpaceX hasn’t said directly what the 43 acres would be used for, the company is in the middle of a massive expansion project, which includes employee housing and office space.
“Trevino’s statements are upside down,” Mary Angela Branch, a member of SaveRGV, a local environmental advocacy organization, told TPR. “How can he support the expansion of a rocket test facility and [liquified natural gas projects] which clearly have turned much of what he calls a ‘paradise on earth’ into a wasteland devoid of wildlife?”
Branch pointed to the land not being the same as Boca Chica, which is a sensitive wildlife habitat for shorebirds that use the mud and algal flats to eat and nest. The land SpaceX is offering is part of the Bahia Grande wetlands system, consisting of Tamaulipan thornscrub, plains and the shoreline of Laguna Larga, a manmade lake.
Also criticized by residents is TPWD holding a vote on the land exchange less than 20 days after posting public notices in the Brownsville Herald in what SaveRGV called a rushed process and a violation of the agency’s own meetings code.
The land is currently managed by Conservation Equity Partners, a conservation real estate investment group, and owned by a subsidiary called Bahia Grande Holdings. The Houston Chronicle reported that the company was in negotiations with Cameron County to purchase the land for several months before going quiet around Thanksgiving last year.
