Elon Musk’s SpaceX is aiming to acquire 712 acres of land in the Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge, amid the protests of environmentalists and activist groups.

The proposal would exchange the wildlife refuge land for 692 acres of land in Starbase, SpaceX’s headquarters on the southern tip of Texas. Starbase was officially designated a city in May 2025, after workers living near SpaceX’s rocket launch facility there voted in favor of the measure, according to the Texas Tribune.

A draft of the proposed land exchange was published on March 2, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which manages the National Wildlife Refuge in question, asked the public to submit feedback on the proposal, according to Valley Central.

SpaceX has not said how it intends to use the land, but the proposal acknowledged it is likely they will develop on that land after acquisition.

“It is reasonably foreseeable that the lands proposed for divestiture will be used for residential, commercial, industrial, and infrastructure purposes in the near term,” the proposal reads.

The South Texas Environmental Justice Network, an environmental advocacy group in the Rio Grande Valley, submitted comments on behalf of 3,392 people opposed to the land exchange, according to their press release. 

“Rio Grande Valley residents oppose Elon Musk’s colonization of our wildlife, beach, and sacred lands for SpaceX’s dangerous and unnecessary rockets,” said Bekah Hinojosa, the network’s co-founder, in the press release. “We urge the US Fish & Wildlife to listen to our community’s pleas and deny SpaceX’s 712-acre land grab.”

The proposal by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said the purpose of the land exchange was to “conserve species’ habitats, improve habitat protection, consolidate ownership, and simplify management of refuge lands”.

The South Texas Environmental Justice Network also said the 712 acres that SpaceX wants  are considered “culturally significant” to the Carrizo Comecrudo Tribe of Texas, a group indigenous to the Rio Grande Valley.

“Elon Musk and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are allowing the destruction of our lands and ecosystems in pursuit of space ventures, while neglecting the responsibility to protect what is here,” said Juan B. Mancias, tribal chair, in the press release.

According to the proposal by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the agency collaborated with SpaceX to evaluate the land in question, based on habitat quality, how integral it was to the refuge, and whether the land was habitat to an endangered species. Based on these criteria, the proposal said the 692 acres offered up by SpaceX was classified as “high quality,” while the 712 acres of refuge were considered “poor” and “medium quality.”

Marisa Perales, an attorney for the South Texas Environmental Justice Network, told the Austin-American Statesman that the refuge land being considered of poor quality was a “direct effect of SpaceX activity in the area, including bulldozing and constructing buildings.”

SpaceX activity in the region has long been the subject of criticism or pushback from residents in the Rio Grande Valley, due to the use of public land and environmental impact of rocket launches.  On March 5, the Texas Supreme Court heard arguments over whether the closures of Boca Chica Beach, a public beach near Starbase, during SpaceX launch operations, were lawful.

In June of 2025, a late-night explosion during a rocket test rocked the residents of nearby Brownsville. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality reported wildfires, smoke clouds, and debris in rivers in the area after the explosion, according to the San Antonio Express-News.

The proposal to exchange the 712 acres of refuge includes a list of endangered species that occupy the land in question, including the Northern Aplomado Falcon and Rufa Red Knot shorebird. The proposal acknowledged that development on the lands could disturb endangered species’ habitats, expose them to chemicals, or kill them in vehicle collisions. However, the proposal cited the already-low quality of the habitats as determined by their classification system developed with SpaceX.

“While [endangered] species may be present or have the potential to use these lands, the overall habitat suitability is limited and the likelihood of adverse impacts from future development is low,” the proposal reads.

The Defenders of Wildlife, an environmental advocacy group, posted a statement warning that the land exchange would be harmful to the wildlife in the refuge, and pointing to the environmental harm of previous SpaceX activity in the region. 

“Experimental rockets have caused damage through falling debris, explosions, fires and have impacted shorebird nests,” the organization’s statement reads. 

Defenders of Wildlife policy analyst Nathan Marcy said the logic used in the Fish and Wildlife Service’s proposal is incorrect, and the land exchange will only cause a greater environmental impact.

“Giving the company the very land it destroyed through its own actions won’t buy safety for Lower Rio Grande Valley,” Marcy said in the statement. “Just the opposite, it will guarantee even more development on the refuge’s doorstep, which in turn will damage even more wildlife habitat.”  

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ended its call for public comments on the proposal at the beginning of April, and will review feedback to decide whether the deal will continue, according to the Statesman.