Sponsors (10)
The bill expands and clarifies Big Bend National Park—adding about 6,100 acres and formalizing maps and administrative authority to improve conservation and transparency—while relying on voluntary land transactions that can limit private land uses, slow parcel consolidation, and may increase management costs.
Visitors and nearby rural communities gain roughly 6,100 acres added to Big Bend National Park, increasing permanently protected land, recreation opportunities, and protections for natural/cultural/scenic resources.
Residents, local governments, and park managers get clearer, authoritative park boundaries and an official map (available for inspection), improving transparency and making administration and land-use expectations more predictable.
Interior Department officials have a clearer statutory definition of the 'Secretary' for administering the Park under this Act, reducing legal ambiguity in management and enforcement.
Homeowners and adjacent rural communities may face new or clearer federal oversight and land-management restrictions (limiting development, grazing, or other private uses) when lands are mapped or incorporated into the park, reducing local economic options for affected properties.
Because additions rely on voluntary donation or exchange rather than purchase (and eminent domain is not authorized), the National Park Service could take longer or be unable to secure key contiguous parcels, slowing conservation, access, or coherent management of the expanded park.
Adding acreage increases park management and maintenance responsibilities, which could raise federal costs or divert NPS resources from other priorities unless Congress provides additional funding.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Allows the Interior Secretary to acquire ~6,100 acres by donation or exchange and add them to Big Bend National Park; eminent domain is barred.
Introduced March 25, 2025 by Tony Gonzales · Last progress March 25, 2025
Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to acquire about 6,100 acres of land or interests in land shown on an official map and add those lands to Big Bend National Park. Acquisitions must be by donation or exchange (no eminent domain), the Park boundary would be revised to include the acquired tracts, and the lands would be administered under existing National Park Service laws and regulations.