The Bureau of Land Management declared thousands of acres along the Red River as public land earlier this year. The Bureau cites a Supreme Court decision in 1923 that established the Texas-Oklahoma border and declared the area in between the property of the federal government because the river has changed and that has changed the area that’s considered public. Land owners sued, justifying they’ve been paying property taxes on the land. Some land owners have called the case a government “land grab.”
Son of Jeb Bush, George P. Bush, was elected last year as the Texas Land Commissioner. His office has filed a motion to join the lawsuit. In addition to property owners who say they hold deeds to the land, Bush says the General Land Office holds mineral rights to some of the land the Bureau of Land Management has ceased. Former Land Commissioner, Jerry Patterson, says if the river changed gradually, the bureau can argue that boundaries move: however, Patterson also says the boundary changes would not apply if the river’s course was changed suddenly because of a flood. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Governor Greg Abbott both said they filed briefs on behalf of the land owners.