Mac Thronberry
The House approved legislation on Wednesday that U.S. Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-TX) introduced to require a survey of contested land along the Red River between Texas and Oklahoma.
The Red River Gradient Boundary Survey Act, H.R. 428, would require the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to conduct a survey along a 116-mile stretch of the Red River to settle land ownership disputes.
“This bill essentially requires the BLM to do what they should have done all along,” Thornberry said. “Its passage in the House is an important step toward providing these landowners with the legal certainty they deserve. I hope we can use this momentum to get the bill passed in the Senate and then signed into law by the president.”
The BLM has never surveyed a strip of land along the Red River, giving rise to disputes between the government, private stakeholders and tribes over land ownership and tax obligations.
U.S. Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK), a cosponsor of the bill, said Oklahomans and Texans have questioned the validity of the Red River’s role as boundary between the two states.
“Over time, the river has been subject to changes from natural causes, and brought on the issues of who owns what land, who pays what taxes and who can make claims of use,” Cole said. “I am pleased that this bill not only protects the interests of states, but also protects the sovereignty, property and trust rights of the tribal parties involved.”
U.S. Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX), the chairman of the House Rules Committee, also applauded House approval of the bill.
“For nearly a century ranchers, farmers and families along the Red River have lived in a cloud of uncertainty because of the Bureau of Land Management’s failure to appropriately determine the boundary between public and private land,” Sessions said. “As a result, Texans have been subject to ridiculous and baseless land grabs by federal agencies. Many of these families have been on this land for generations and it is critical that we take active measures to provide them with the certainty they need so they can rightfully protect their land.”