The Trump administration is weighing a cope with SpaceX that may give Elon Musk’s aerospace firm 775 acres of the Decrease Rio Grande Valley Nationwide Wildlife Refuge, in keeping with a New York Occasions report on Tuesday.
The reported deal would give SpaceX the land in Cameron County in alternate for 692 acres of land it owns elsewhere within the county, a few of it 20 miles away from the refuge. The alternate would enable SpaceX so as to add to its rocket launch operation website, which critics have lengthy warned could trigger ecological injury and threats to close by wildlife habitats.
Spokespeople for the Wildlife Service and SpaceX didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark in regards to the reported land alternate. Garrett Peterson, a spokesperson for the Fish and Wildlife Service, instructed the Occasions the federal authorities was exploring a deal that “advances long-term wildlife conservation and aligns with the administration’s objectives of strengthening American innovation, infrastructure and financial competitiveness.”
It’s unclear whether or not the deal would require SpaceX to take any steps to protect wildlife within the land, in keeping with the Occasions. Two endangered wild cats, the ocelot and jaguarundi, are positioned within the Decrease Rio Grande Valley Refuge, in keeping with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
SpaceX had beforehand agreed to a land swap with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Fee in 2024, however later pulled out of the deal. That deal would have given SpaceX 43 acres of Boca Chica State Park in alternate for 477 acres close to Laguna Atascosa Nationwide Wildlife Refuge. The Occasions’ report stated a number of the land SpaceX would give the federal authorities within the new potential alternate might be added to the Laguna Atascosa refuge.
The corporate’s presence in South Texas this 12 months has turn out to be extra outstanding because the creation of a brand new metropolis, Starbase, whose officers — and most of its residents — are SpaceX staff. The potential alternate might be the most recent in a sequence of state and federal wins for SpaceX prior to now 12 months.
In Might, the corporate was given approval by the Federal Aviation Administration to extend the variety of rocket launches in South Texas; in June, the Texas Legislature gave the corporate authority to shut a close-by seashore for its launches; and in September, a choose dismissed a lawsuit towards the FAA over the environmental impacts of a failed SpaceX rocket launch in 2023.
Disclosure: The New York Occasions has been a monetary supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan information group that’s funded partly by donations from members, foundations and company sponsors. Monetary supporters play no position within the Tribune’s journalism. Discover a full record of them right here.
This text first appeared on The Texas Tribune.
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