‘It’s Not a Dare, It’s a Promise’: Gov. Rick Perry Warns Feds Over Concerns of New Land Grab in Texas

Texas Gov. Rick Perry warned the federal Bureau of Land Management to stay away from Texas amid new concerns that it may be looking to claim thousands of acres of land in the northern part of the state.

Not only does the federal government already own “too much land,” Perry told Fox News, the feds are “out of control.”

“At issue are thousands of acres of land on the Texas side of the Red River, along the border between Texas and Oklahoma. Officials recently have raised concern that the BLM might be looking at claiming 90,000 acres of land as part of the public domain,” the Fox News report states.

However, any potential action would reportedly be years away as the federal government is only in the preliminary review phase. Further, the BLM claims it is “not expanding Federal holdings along the Red River.”

The statement refers to a 1986 federal court case in which Texas landowner Tommy Henderson lost 140 acres to the BLM. Now he claims the agency is using that court decision as precedent to claim more land.

“It’s not a dare, it’s a promise that we’re going to stand up for private property rights in the state of Texas,” Perry said.

Texas Attorney Greg Abbott, who is hoping to replace Perry as governor, sent a letter to the BLM on Tuesday urging the feds to “stay out of Texas.” Perry said he stands with his attorney general when it comes to Texans’ property rights.

According to Fox News, BLM said it is merely in the ‘initial stages of developing options for management of public lands,’ as part of a ‘transparent process with several opportunities for public input.’”

Read the full report here.