Sponsors (6)
Official title: To establish the Lone Star Coastal National Recreation Area to conserve, protect, and promote the economic benefits of the natural, cultural, and recreational resources of the Upper and Middle Texas Gulf Coast as a unit of the National Park System.
Introduced June 15, 2026 by Randy Weber · Last progress June 15, 2026
This bill expands coastal recreation, coordination, and voluntary conservation while protecting private property rights, but relies heavily on voluntary acquisitions and non‑Federal funding and creates potential fiscal, administrative, and regulatory trade-offs that may limit ecological gains and shift costs and burdens to local partners and taxpayers.
Residents, visitors, and rural communities will gain expanded outdoor recreation and heritage-tourism opportunities (hunting, fishing, trails, interpretation), increasing local visitor spending and potential jobs.
Coastal and aquatic habitats will receive stronger voluntary conservation, coordinated restoration, and federal technical support, improving ecosystem health and protection for nationally significant species and resources.
Private landowners retain property-rights protections through voluntary participation, willing‑seller acquisitions, and an explicit prohibition on condemnation, reducing risk of eminent domain and forced takings.
Communities, conservation organizations, and habitat connectivity may be undermined because land protection is limited to voluntary/willing‑seller transactions and the Partnership cannot acquire property, making it difficult to assemble contiguous parcels for strong conservation outcomes.
Taxpayers and federal budgets could face increased and potentially open‑ended costs to create and operate the new Recreation Area and Partnership (including unspecified 'such sums' and staff/detailee expenses).
State, local, and nonprofit partners may incur significant fiscal strain because many projects require large non‑Federal matches (e.g., at least $3 non‑Federal per $1 Federal), shifting costs onto local budgets and private organizations.
Based on analysis of 8 sections of legislative text.
Establishes the Lone Star Coastal National Recreation Area and voluntary Network, creates a Partnership to develop a Plan, limits federal land acquisition to willing transactions, and authorizes matching‑conditioned funding.
Creates the Lone Star Coastal National Recreation Area in coastal Texas and a 31‑member Lone Star Coastal Partnership to plan and manage a network of NPS lands and voluntarily participating associated sites across five counties. It authorizes cooperative agreements, voluntary land inclusion only from willing sellers or donors, matching rules for federal funding, and requires an Integrated Resource Management Plan to guide operations, protection, public access (including hunting and fishing), and support for local recreation and tourism economies. The bill preserves state and local authority and private property rights, forbids land acquisition by condemnation, limits federal acquisition methods, and sets timelines and procedures for partnership formation, plan development, public review, and Secretary approval. Funding is authorized as "such sums as may be necessary" for planning, technical assistance, interpretation, and cooperative activities but is conditioned on an approved Plan and matching contributions from non‑Federal sources.