The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas yesterday allowed a land exchange to proceed between the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and SpaceX in South Texas. The court denied a preliminary injunction request, finding that the plaintiffs failed to establish an injury in fact to support standing and they failed to establish irreparable harm. 

“This land exchange is a win-win for the American people that achieves significant benefits for conservation and national security,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson of ENRD. “The United States will acquire several hundred acres of high-quality habitat in the Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge that the Fish and Wildlife Service seeks to protect, and SpaceX will acquire land with a lower biological value that will help it achieve its mission for NASA and the Air Force.”

Attorneys in ENRD’s Natural Resources Section handled this matter.