Elon Musk wants to trade some of his dirt for Uncle Sam’s dirt, but environmentalists are saying “not so fast,” according to a recent Outdoor Life article. SpaceX and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) cooked up a deal to swap 683 private acres for 715 acres of public wildlife refuge in southern Texas. The feds gave it the green light, claiming it’s a total win that will “consolidate fragmented refuge holdings, reduce land use conflicts, and enhance long-term conservation of high-value habitats within the [refuges].” Basically, the government thinks trading away 32 extra public acres is a small price to pay to get their hands on some pristine tidal marshes and wetlands.
However, a crew of green groups isn’t buying the government’s optimism and slapped them with a lawsuit. They argue that the USFWS is violating federal law and point out that handing over public land to a rocket company is a recipe for disaster. The Center for Biological Diversity put it bluntly, claiming “the wildlife habitat that SpaceX has sought to take ownership of has been degraded by SpaceX’s expanding operations and failed rocket launches.” They’re worried about endangered critters like the ocelot getting caught in the crossfire of Musk’s cosmic ambitions, especially since previous explosions have rained ash and debris on the surrounding area.
While hunters and conservationists are largely staying on the sidelines—partly because some of the new land might actually expand public hunting grounds—the drama is far from over. The USFWS tried to brush off the backlash, ignoring more than 25,000 public comments because they deemed them unoriginal “form comments.” This isn’t SpaceX’s first rodeo trying to scoop up Texas parkland, either; a previous attempt at a state land swap also triggered a lawsuit before Musk eventually backed out. Whether this federal deal flies or crashes and burns is now up to a D.C. court to decide.
If you’re looking for more information, you can read the full article here.
(Image not of actual land)
