Commissioner questions SpaceX stewardship as company pulls out of land deal

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SpaceX has pulled out of a deal with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department that would have swapped 477 acres of private land near the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge-Bahia Grande Unit for 43 acres of state land in Boca Chica State Park.

SpaceX’s decision to abandon the deal was first reported last week by Bloomberg, based on a company memo the publication said it had seen.

The land swap was first proposed by SpaceX in 2019 as necessary to “expand its operational footprint around its launch facilities.” TPWD’s internal staff recommended approving the swap, saying it would “provide increased public recreational opportunities including hiking, camping, water recreation, and wildlife viewing, and allow for greater conservation of sensitive habitats for wintering and migratory birds.”

The Sierra Club fought the deal, however, winning a delay in a TPWD Commission vote on a resolution approving the land transfer, though commissioners ultimately approved the resolution in a unanimous vote March 4.

Precinct 3 Cameron County Commissioner David Garza at the time complained that the proposed swap came as a surprise and that the county had been left out of discussions between TPWD and SpaceX. Further, the county had been working for more than a year to purchase the land near the refuge with grants from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the RESTORE Act and with the help of the Nature Conservancy, he said.

The county was planning to preserve 430 acres of the property in its natural state, and build small parking areas and a walking trail along the south shore of the Lower Laguna Madre on about 47 acres just north of S.H. 100, Garza said.

“We were meeting all of (funding) those deadlines when the rug was pulled out from under us,” he said.

Bloomberg posted a Sept. 26 letter from Sheila McCorkle, SpaceX vice president, Starship Legal and Regulatory, to TPWD Executive Director David Yoskowitz that SpaceX was “no longer interested” in pursuing the deal. The letter noted that SpaceX had informed TPWD of its decision in July, but gave no reason for the company’s decision.

Garza said it feels like SpaceX has pulled the rug out from under the county again — though this time it’s also affecting TPWD, “which are great partners to the county.”

“I’ll probably be thrown out of the county for making these comments, but I don’t care,” he said.

Garza said he took a leap of faith 10 years ago as commissioner in voting for a county tax abatement for SpaceX, hoping that the company would follow through on its promise to be a good neighbor and a partner in the county’s efforts toward responsible land stewardship. This latest episode has him questioning his decision, Garza said, adding that tax abatement runs out this year.

The county bears the brunt of residents’ and environmental groups’ complaints over frequent beach/road closures, launches, sonic booms and other issues related to SpaceX, and it’s becoming harder for him to defend the company to constituents when it behaves this way, Garza said.

“The employment opportunities are great,” he said. “Having people move in and help our community and our economy is fantastic. What (SpaceX) has done in that respect, we applaud. But come on.”

Now the county has to start from scratch regarding the nearly 500 acres near the refuge — but without NOAA or RESTORE Act funding, since those deadlines have come and gone, Garza said.

“We’re back to square one with very much diminished funding possibilities,” he said. “We’re going to go back and we’re going to try. We’ll continue looking for opportunities to create amenities and protect our environment here without much local, direct cost, try to find partners at the federal or state level that can help us move projects forward. We’ve been successful at doing those types of things.”

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