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A request by the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) for an emergency injunction to halt a land swap between SpaceX and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was rejected on Monday by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas.
The land in question is part of the Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge (LRGV-NWR). CBD and other groups requested the injunction July 20 to stop a deal that would privatize and hand over 727 aces of public land in the refuge to SpaceX in exchange for 683 acres of private land adjacent to the Laguna Madre Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge, warning that the deal could be finalized before the courts had a chance to weigh in on its legality in response to an underlying lawsuit filed earlier in July.
LRGV-NWR was created in 1979 to protect rare wildlife such as ocelots and aplomado falcons, and migratory birds including as piping plovers, red knots, green jays and Altamira orioles. The refuge encompasses some of the most viable remaining U.S. habitat for the endangered ocelot, as well as a large portion of the Palmito Ranch Battlefield National Historic Landmark, where the last battle of the Civil War took place.
Laiken Jordahl, CBD national public lands advocate, said in July that “without prompt action by the court, the refuge parcels could be permanently transferred to SpaceX within weeks, accelerating industrial expansion into one of the most ecologically important landscapes in South Texas.”
“Federal officials are racing to fork over America’s public lands to one of wealthiest corporations on Earth before the courts can even weigh in,” he said. “This refuge is one of the last places left for the public to enjoy nature in the Rio Grande Valley. Why should Texans be forced to surrender even more of their public lands to a trillion-dollar corporation? The court has to intervene now because once these refuge lands are transferred to SpaceX they’re gone forever.”
SpaceX broke ground at Boca Chica Beach in 2014 for what Elon Musk said at the time would be the world’s only commercial launch site, with plans for up to 12 launches a year using its Falcon rockets — much smaller and less powerful than the Starship/Super Heavy vehicles the company later pivoted to developing at Boca Chica.
The Federal Aviation Administration last year authorized a dramatic increase in the Starship and the Super Heavy booster launch cadence — up to 25 launches a year, plus 25 landings each for Starship and Super Heavy, representing a five-fold increase from that previously allowed.
In response to Monday’s court’s rejection of the CBD’s emergency injunction request, Jordahl said that “Trump and (Secretary of the Interior Doug) Burgum are gifting our public lands to SpaceX, clearing the way for bulldozers to tear into this wildlife refuge as soon as next week and turn a public treasure into a private payday.
“This court order is not the final word. These lands hold incredible spiritual, historical and conservation value for the people and wildlife of South Texas. We won’t stop fighting to keep this irreplaceable public wildlife refuge safe from SpaceX bulldozers.”