Sponsors (2)
This bill preserves local control and the current land‑use status quo for nearby landowners and officials but does so by blocking the 2023 refuge plan—delaying conservation actions, reducing federal support for refuge operations, and creating legal uncertainty.
Local landowners and nearby rural communities keep the current land-use status quo because the Department of the Interior cannot implement the 2023 refuge management changes.
State and local officials retain decision-making authority over land use related to the specified refuge plan, preventing new federal restrictions from that plan.
Rural residents, visitors, and recreation-dependent local businesses will not receive the public access, habitat protection, or other conservation benefits proposed in the 2023 plan because those actions cannot be enacted.
Federal resource management activities, grants, and potential land acquisitions tied to the 2023 plan cannot proceed, reducing federal support for refuge operations and related employment.
The restriction creates legal uncertainty that could prompt litigation or administrative disputes over the refuge's future management, imposing legal costs and delaying resolution.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Prohibits the Secretary of the Interior from finalizing, implementing, administering, or enforcing the Feb 2023 USFWS Land Protection Plan & Environmental Assessment for Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge.
Introduced January 31, 2025 by Jodey Cook Arrington · Last progress January 31, 2025
Prohibits the Secretary of the Interior from finalizing, implementing, administering, or enforcing the February 2023 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service "Final Land Protection Plan & Environmental Assessment" for Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge. The measure blocks any Department of the Interior action that would carry out that specific land protection plan for the refuge. The text does not change funding, create new programs, or apply to other documents or refuges; it only prevents federal action on that single named plan document from February 2023.