Texas buys two ranches near border

DALLAS – The Dallas Morning News reports the Texas General Land Office announced this week it purchased two ranches near the nation’s southern border. The first property is a smaller 1,402-acre property in Starr County where state leaders plan to build a 1.5-mile stretch of border wall along the Rio Grande. The second is the massive 353,785-acre Brewster Ranch near Big Bend National Park. The state land office did not immediately respond to questions from The Dallas Morning News regarding the transaction. News releases from the agency did not reveal the purchase prices. This story may be updated with responses. Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham said the Starr County property’s frontage on the river makes it an ideal location for enhancing border security.

She alleged that the federal government has “abdicated its job to secure our southern border.” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced the state’s plan to build a border wall three years ago. By July, the state had built about 34 miles of steel wall — far from the 1,254 miles needed. The state has paid roughly $25 million per mile of wall, the Texas Tribune reported. Buckingham told the Texas Tribune there are a variety of leasing options for the larger Brewster Ranch, including hunting, agriculture, mineral and the storing of atmospheric carbon dioxide in the soil. In a news release published by the Land Report, Buckingham said she bought Brewster Ranch to prevent “foreign adversaries from purchasing this land.” Buckingham did not elaborate further on interested parties. Brewster Ranch was previously owned by Brad Kelley’s Texas Mountain Holdings. Kelley, a tobacco tycoon who lives in Tennessee, is Texas’ largest private landowner. He owned more than 940,000 acres in the state, according to the 2024 Land Report 100.