Texas allowed in on Red River land grab lawsuit

Dallas Morning News – by Bobby Blanchard

AUSTIN — A U.S. District Court approved a motion Monday for Texas to intervene and join a lawsuit involving 90,000 acres of land along the Texas-Oklahoma border.

Last year, a group of landowners sued the Bureau of Land Management in a land dispute along the border. The seven families behind the lawsuit were suing for thousands of acres of land that the Bureau of Land Management claims belongs to the government. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott — and several other Texas politicians — praised the landowners for suing. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton even filed a motion to join the suit, which the court approved Monday.  

“Washington, D.C., needs to hear, loud and clear, that Texas will not stand for the federal government’s infringement upon Texas land and the property rights of the people who live here,” Paxton said in a statement.

Land disputes in the area date back to the earlier parts of the 20th century, but they began anew when representatives from the Bureau of Land Management visited North Texas to discuss how the land would be used in the next 20 years.

The agency says the land is public, citing a 1923 ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court that assigned land in between the state boundary to the federal government. The families say they have deeds for the land and have paid taxes on it for many years now.

Previously, the agency has refused to comment on the lawsuit.

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