U.S. Congressman Mac Thornberry // Serving the People of the 13th District of Texas

A bill to protect private property along the Red River was approved by the House Resources Committee on Wednesday, moving the legislation one step closer toward full consideration by the House of Representatives.

“We will not let up in our efforts to assure landowners that their private property along the Red River will be protected, and the fact that the Resources Committee approved the bill shows that we have both common sense and momentum on our side,” says Thornberry.

The “Red River Private Property Protection Act (H.R. 4979)," introduced by area Congressman Mac Thornberry, seeks to settle all federal ownership claims by providing legal certainty to landowners along the Red River. It directs the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to relinquish federal claims and issue deeds to landowners who can prove ownership through official State and county records. It also prevents the BLM from including any privately owned acres in a current or future Resource Management Plan.

The legislation was debated along with other proposals dealing with property rights that fall under the House Natural Resources Committee’s jurisdiction.

The Chairman of the Committee, Rep. Doc Hastings (R-WA), acknowledged the land issue is “complicated” and that the bill continues to evolve. He also said, “Mr. Thornberry and his staff have logged many hours and undertaken extensive outreach in order to address and try to resolve this ownership dispute.” Finally, he called the bill’s mark up a “crucial benchmark to assist in the evolution of the bill and bring certainty to folks along the Red River in both Texas and Oklahoma.”

Back in July, the Resources Committee held a hearing on the topic. As a part of the hearing, both Rep. Thornberry and a local Texas landowner whose land along the Red River has been called into question testified about the need to settle the issue.

Additional information can be found on Congressman Thornberry’s website by clicking here.