Federal Court Clears Land Exchange Between Fish and Wildlife Service and SpaceX in South Texas
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas allowed a land exchange between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and SpaceX to move forward after denying a preliminary injunction request. In the ruling, the court determined that the plaintiffs did not establish an injury in fact necessary for standing and failed to demonstrate irreparable harm.
Under the arrangement, the U.S. government will acquire several hundred acres of habitat in the Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge for conservation purposes, while SpaceX will acquire land intended to support its missions for NASA and the U.S. Air Force.
According to Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson of the Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD), the exchange will secure high-quality conservation habitat for the Fish and Wildlife Service while transferring land of lower biological value to SpaceX. Gustafson described the agreement as beneficial for both conservation and national security.
The legal matter was handled by attorneys from ENRD’s Natural Resources Section.
US Department of Justice
This is the agency or court’s own account. Allegations and statements should be read as its claims unless the article cites other evidence.
How PressClub produces articles
PressClub uses AI to write news from collected source material, with formatted source text as a fallback. The linked material provides the source’s account; this article does not establish independent verification. Read the source for its own wording and updates.
Read next
Catch up with a briefing, explore coverage, or share this article.
More news to read
Browse more published news. The topic labels show what each article covers.