AUSTIN – The Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF) issued the following statement from the Honorable Robert Henneke, general counsel and director of TPPF’s Center for the American Future, on the federal District Court’s Order granting the State of Texas’ motion to intervene in Aderholt, et al. v. Bureau of Land Management, et. al. TPPF’s Center for the American Future is representing individual property owners, the counties of Wichita, Clay, and Wilbarger, and the Clay County Sheriff in the lawsuit challenging the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) unconstitutional and arbitrary seizure of thousands of acres of private property along the Red River in Texas.
“The federal District Court’s Order today granting the State of Texas motion to intervene represents a significant, preliminary victory in the ongoing lawsuit fighting the Bureau of Land Managements’ seizure of private property along the Red River,” said Henneke. “Our Clients welcome the State of Texas now officially becoming a co-Plaintiff in this fight against federal overreach. In granting the Texas Attorney General’s intervention motion, the Court preliminarily found that BLM is required to conduct a gradient boundary survey if it is going to claim a material change to its boundary. Furthermore, the Court found that Texas has stated a justiciable claim that BLM’s assertion of federal lands inside of Texas grants Texas has a substantial and direct interest in protecting its tax base, including those that directly fund Texas public schools, threatened by BLM’s actions.”
To read the order, please visit: http://txpo.li/Order-Granting-TX-Motion-to-Intervene
The federal government is attempting to take thousands of acres of Texas land from homeowners and ranchers along the Red River. According to the Bureau of Land Management, the land is inside the river and is therefore public land. However, the south bank of the river is about a mile north of where the government says it is. Furthermore, many Texans live on that land, and many others make their livelihoods from farming and ranching on it. These Texans have lived and paid taxes on the land for generations, and they have titles and deeds going back to the 1800’s.
For more information on the dispute and lawsuit please visit: www.RedRiverPropertyRights.com
To schedule an interview with Mr. Henneke, please contact Caroline Espinosa at [email protected] or 512-472-2700.
The Honorable Robert Henneke is General Counsel and Director of the Foundation’s Center for the American Future.
The Texas Public Policy Foundation is a non-profit, free-market research institute based in Austin, Texas.