WICHITA FALLS, TEXAS–Texas State Senator Craig Estes (R-Wichita Falls) helped sound the alarm about the situation facing many of his constituents regarding the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) attempt to take up to 90,000 acres of land along the Red River Texas/Oklahoma border as reported by Breitbart Texas. Sen. Estes sat down for an interview in his Wichita Falls office to discuss the matter in more detail.
“We were contacted by constituents,” Sen. Estes began, “who were concerned about this, so we did spread the word about it. It seems to have gotten everyone’s attention and gotten quite a bit of news coverage.”
Sen. Estes continued, “First of all, I think it’s outrageous that the federal government, through the BLM, is essentially going to try to deprive private land owners of their right to their land.
“I thought General Abbott’s (Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott) letter was very well reasoned and the summary of his letter, in my opinion was, explain to us, your rationale behind this. We have yet to hear from them as to why they even think they have a claim to this land.
“The Red River, of course, is a boundary line between the two states, and it shifts and changes all the time. So we have been dealing with this problem a long time. I think that the BLM is just trying to compound the problem.”
Estes explained the fact finding meeting that was held in the afternoon on April 28 that was attended by Lt. Governor David Dewhurst, General Land Office Commissioner Jerry Patterson and a large representation of Texas State Legislators.
“Everybody’s attention is on it,” Estes stated. “I would say, in all things public policy, that sunshine is the best disinfectant. We’re going to put a lot of sunshine on this issue and see where it leads.”
Following is the entire interview with Senator Estes:
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