No FED in West Texas Act

H.R. 839, introduced in the 119th Congress by Representative Arrington, would block the implementation of a specific Land Protection Plan for Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge. Specifically, it prohibits the Secretary of the Interior from finalizing, implementing, administering, or enforcing the Land Protection Plan described in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Final Land Protection Plan & Environmental Assessment for Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge (February 2023). In short, the bill seeks to prevent the federal government from putting that plan into effect, maintaining the status quo for the refuge rather than adopting the proposed land protections. The bill’s effect, if enacted, is to give Congress veto power over the specific plan prepared by FWS, and to require the agency to proceed under existing management rather than the 2023 Land Protection Plan. It currently stands as introduced and would need to pass both chambers and be signed by the President to become law.