Bryan Baker is a fourth-generation cotton farmer in the small rural town of Sudan, Texas. His home is in the epicenter of the federal government’s plan to expand the Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge from 6,440 acres to 700,000 acres.
Bryan has traveled to Washington, D.C. this week to testify for his fellow landowners and local community to stress how removing so many acres of private property will devastate his whole community.
He’s testifying for H.R. 839, by Rep. Jody Arrington (R-Lubbock) scheduled for a hearing Tuesday, April 8th at 10:30 in the Committee on Natural Resources, Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries. The purpose of the bill is to prevent the Land Protection Plan (LPP) from going forward.
On January 31, Arrington filed H.R. 839, that prevents the Secretary of Interior from finalizing, implementing, administering, or enforcing the LPP in U.S Fish and Wildlife’s final plan for the expansion of the Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge.
Bryan is the president of the Texas Producers Cooperative Gin (TPC) that represents 492 farmers, a large representation of the economy and fabric of the local community.
TPC has several businesses that include two cotton ginning plants, an insurance company, a fertilizer and chemical sales division that is fully staffed with agronomic advisors to advise member farmers of all the latest technologies and techniques for growing improved crops, a fully stocked farm supply store, a tire repair and sales division, a mechanic shop, a fuel sales division, and even a barber shop.
They employ 43 full-time employees, with 48 seasonal employees during cotton harvest time between October and late January. TPC returns, on average, $2-$2.5 million annually as dividends to its members with a majority of these dollars remaining “in our local community and are the lifeblood of our area,” Baker stated.
“When farmers thrive, the local economy thrives.”
“The footprint of TPC extends 60 miles in all directions from Sudan,” Baker continued.
“If the estimated 700,000 acres out of a possible seven million acres are taken, it is clear how this overreach by the federal government would be detrimental to TPC and our local economy.” By removing that many acres from farming and the production that occurs on them, it will cause “a ripple effect that will be irreversible…and devastating to Texas Producers Cooperative.”
This will then affect the local banks, grocery stores, restaurants, and the heartbeat of these small towns – the local schools. “If this land is converted into government-owned property and removed from the tax base, the school district will have no choice but to raise property taxes.” The federal government pays no local taxes on land they own.
This removal of acres out of production will create multiple economic losses, such as a reduction in the number of teachers, bus drivers, staff, and fewer children to attend school when the family farms are gone and the farmers leave the community.
Baker stated that the federal government’s own announcement of the expansion claimed it was developed through public processes and informed by input from local landowners, and was supposedly locally supported.
However, this wasn’t true. As usual, the federal government, along with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, and the New Mexico Game and Fish Department published the plan on April 16, 2024, unannounced to anyone in the community, including local elected officials and even Texas’ Governor Abbot.
Baker said to his knowledge, Sudan ISD, TPC, nor any of his fellow farmers and ranchers were ever contacted and never asked for input and, to his knowledge, no economic study was undertaken.
Baker said: “Farmers and ranchers are amazing stewards of the land and many of us, including myself, are avid outdoorsmen. But I am against the ones that will have generational change and economic devastation to an entire region and cause hundreds of families that call this place home to have to change their way of life.”
This kind of government expansion has in the past destroyed the very fabric of what makes our nation great. American citizens were to own the private property and in turn the wealth of our nation through production, mineral extraction, timber harvesting, and all the other uses of the land that kept our government in check.
When people own the land, they control their government. When the government owns the land, they control the people. This Muleshoe expansion is part of the green regime’s attempt to destroy our nation by expanding the footprint of the federal government.
It needs to be stopped and when it is, the landowners in the Texas Panhandle will keep their local communities together, stay economically healthy, and continue to thrive.
Watch the interview with Bryan Baker HERE.
Bryan Baker’s testimony before the House Subcommittee was on Tuesday, April 8th. To watch the replay, click here.
