Environmental groups sue to stop SpaceX from acquiring 715 acres of refuge land

A coalition of environmental and tribal groups filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday to block a land exchange that would transfer 715 acres of the Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge to SpaceX.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, challenges a recent decision by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service approving the exchange. Under the agreement, SpaceX would receive 715 acres of refuge land near Boca Chica in return for 683 acres of privately owned property.

The plaintiffs include the Center for Biological Diversity, Save RGV, the Carrizo/Comecrudo Nation of Texas and the South Texas Environmental Justice Network.

Opponents describe the exchange as one of the largest wildlife refuge land transfers outside Alaska. The groups argue the deal would permanently reduce the size of the Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge while fragmenting habitat used by endangered species and migratory birds.

According to the lawsuit, the Fish and Wildlife Service violated the National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act, the National Historic Preservation Act, the National Environmental Policy Act and the Administrative Procedure Act when it approved the transfer.

“Our protected public lands are being gifted for the benefit of the world’s richest man, who could trash them while playing with his exploding rockets,” Laiken Jordahl, national public lands advocate for the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement announcing the lawsuit.

In 1979, Congress established the refuge to protect wildlife habitat along the Rio Grande, including habitat for endangered ocelots, aplomado falcons and numerous migratory bird species.

The lawsuit argues that refuge land has already been affected by SpaceX operations, including rocket launches, explosions, wildfires and debris scattered onto protected habitat. The groups contend federal agencies should have required stronger protections for the refuge rather than approving the exchange.

“Elon Musk has built his explosive SpaceX facility in the middle of a major wildlife corridor home to endangered and threatened species like ocelots and wetlands,” Bekah Hinojosa, co-founder of the South Texas Environmental Justice Network, said in the statement. “Our community opposes these latest hostile land grabs by SpaceX of our wildlife habitat and Boca Chica beach.”

The complaint also raises concerns about the Palmito Ranch Battlefield National Historic Landmark, the site of the final battle of the Civil War. Plaintiffs argue that hundreds of acres within the historic landmark could be transferred to SpaceX without adequate protections to preserve the site’s historical significance or public access.

“The refuge is a national public treasure with immense ecological and cultural value,” Mary Angela Branch of Save RGV said in the statement. “The tract being swapped to SpaceX, whose arrival here has been an unmitigated disaster, will permanently sever the very heart of the wildlife corridor established by Congress in 1979.”

The groups are asking the court to overturn the Fish and Wildlife Service’s approval and prevent the land exchange from moving forward.

SpaceX had not publicly responded to the lawsuit as of Wednesday afternoon.