WASHINGTON, D.C. – A bipartisan bill in Washington proposing an expansion of Big Bend National Park in West Texas unanimously cleared a recent U.S. Senate hurdle.
The Big Bend National Park Boundary Adjustment Act cleared a Senate and Energy and Natural Resources Committee vote on Wednesday, according to the U.S. federal legislative website.
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“There is no better example of Texas’ natural beauty and vibrant wildlife than Big Bend National Park, and I’m glad the Senate has passed our bill unanimously so that all Americans can continue to enjoy it,” Sen. John Cornyn said in a Friday news release.
It is a refiling of an exact bill Cornyn filed in 2023. That bill stalled in the House.
The new legislation would expand the far West Texas park by approximately 6,100 acres, primarily through authorizing the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) and the Secretary of the Interior to acquire the land through donations or exchanges.
The legislation explicitly prohibits the Secretary from using eminent domain or condemnation in securing land.
New Mexico Senator Ben Ray Luján, a Democrat, and Republican Congressman Tony Gonzales (TX-23) helped introduce the new bill in March.
“This expansion will allow the National Parks Service to conserve the ecosystem along the Terlingua watershed for years to come,” Luján said in a news release announcing the bill.
The expansion would affect the western boundary of the park, specifically land along Terlingua Creek purchased by the Big Bend Conservancy, according to a Wednesday news release from Environment Texas, a state nonprofit.
Last month, the Texas Nature Conservancy purchased 671 acres of property near the park for conservation and recreational purposes.
National parks across the nation have drawn the attention of President Donald Trump amid his return to the White House.
Several government agencies, including the NPS, were affected by employee firings resulting from purges made by the Department of Government Efficiency earlier this year.
The NPS has since rehired some of those employees and committed to bringing on more seasonal workers.
The legislation now moves to the House for consideration.
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