Land swap between SpaceX and TPWD moves along

BOCA CHICA, Texas – A land swap between SpaceX and the Texas Parks & Wildlife Commission is moving down the road though it will take several months for the cambalache, or exchange, to take place.

The TPWD Commission unanimously approved, by a 9-to-0 vote, the exchange during a meeting early this month between the concerned parties in Austin.

The swap involves a 43-acre tract Texas Parks & Wildlife owns near the SpaceX rocket launching facility known as Starbase, just a stone’s throw away from the popular fishing and recreational park called Boca Chica Beach State Park and which is part of the Cameron County Parks System.

In return, SpaceX will give up 477 acres it has yet to acquire along Texas Highway 100 and north of the Bahia Grande Unit of the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge.

The swap drew the ire of environmental groups and from those accustomed to going to the sand and surf beach facility for either fishing or picnicking.

Thousands of residents from the Southmost area of Brownsville as well as from other parts of the city and the Rio Grande Valley go there routinely to rough it up as there are no public facilities such as like restrooms, pavilions or boat ramps like at the other county-run parks on South Padre Island and Arroyo City.

But since SpaceX acquired land to build its Starbase complex, access to the beach has been closed for hours at a time on the orders of Cameron County Judge Eddie Treviño, Jr.

According to reports, SpaceX wants additional land to expand its launching capabilities.

Others, however, are interpreting the swap as a take-over of public land by a private company that has increasingly been buying or leasing land along the nearly 25-mile stretch along Highway 100 from Brownsville to the beach.

Some local politicians view the rocket launcher enterprise as a sign of progress as it has created more than 2,000 decent paying jobs.

The land TPWC proposes to swap is located behind the South Texas Ecotourism Center on Highway 100 in Laguna Vista. (Photo: Antonio Vindell/RGG)

The swap has been opposed by a coalition of environmentally conscious organizations that believe the exchange will be detrimental to the area and to those who enjoy going to Boca Chica Beach.

“The loss of such access is monumentally unjust to the people who have for generations come to this area to partake in recreational activity,” wrote Michelle Serrano, co-director of Voces Unidas RGV, in an op-ed in the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service.

“These activities were established by our parents and our parents’ parents, borne upon the coastal maritime traditions of fishing, shrimping and oyster harvesting, which supported immigrant communities and established cultural traditions for the people of the RGV.”

The TPWD tract hosts a variety of plants, birds, and animals native to the area whereas the land SpaceX is swapping is somewhat different due to its topography.

Cyrus Reed, conservation director for the Sierra Club Lone Star Chapter, said people needed time to be informed about willing to lose an important part of family-friendly resources, an article in the Texas Tribune states.

Kathryn Lueders, a SpaceX spokesperson who attended the Austin meeting, reportedly said the swap is a win-win for both parties.

“Those launches are exciting the young minds that are watching them … children become what they see,” Lueders told the Tribune. “Today it is not an aspiration to be a rocket scientist and work in the Rio Grande Valley. It is a reality. And one day we hope those kids that are following the launches are seeing themselves and a future spacecraft launching.”

But for the county judge, the cambalache is a positive development for this area of the country, which, historically, has been plagued with one of the county’s highest unemployment rates and lower per capita incomes.

“What community wouldn’t like to have SpaceX with them?” Treviño said. “They have more than 2,000 people who actually are involved with building rockets.”

Treviño said some people are misleadingly saying the county is trying to sell a part of Boca Chica Beach when in reality the land in question is behind SpaceX.

He also said he was initially against the swap unless the Bahia Grande Unit was included as a part of the negotiations.

Treviño said the U.S. National Wildlife Refuge System owns the unit. Yet, he added, the feds want Cameron County to pay for all the proposed improvements set to take place there.

He said people need and want more recreational facilities for fishing, camping and so on and the Bahia Grande Unit fits perfectly for that purpose.

“This exchange isn’t merely about swapping parcels of land – it’s about safeguarding the very essence of what makes Cameron County unique within the vast expanse of Texas. Those 477 acres hold within them precious habitats that are home to a myriad of plant and animal species, from delicate coastal dunes to nesting grounds for endangered birds,” Treviño wrote, in an op-ed in the Guardian.

“It’s also about public access. Boca Chica State Park, with its pristine beaches and diverse ecosystems, offers a gateway for our community to connect with the wonders of nature. By supporting this land exchange, we’re not only creating more opportunities for outdoor recreation but also fostering a deeper appreciation for the environment that sustains us.”

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