No. All property acquisition by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) would be on a voluntary basis (willing buyer/willing seller only) and only lands in which the Service acquires a fee/title realty interest would become part of a refuge. Lands identified in the expansion boundary and priority area are in private and public ownership. It is not the intent of the Service to acquire lands already in public ownership. Only in the presence of willing sellers and only after detailed planning could lands be acquired for the refuge.

The Service will not use eminent domain or condemnation to acquire lands. As the opportunity arises, the Service will acquire land from interested landowners within the planning areas who wish to sell or place easements on their land for the conservation of wildlife.

No. If lands are developed into a National Wildlife Refuge, the Service will have no more authority over private land within or adjacent to the boundaries of the refuge than any other landowner. Landowners retain all the rights, privileges, and responsibilities of private land ownership.

No. This is not a recovery plan or strategy for the lesser prairie-chicken as recovery planning is its own process. Conservation of the lesser prairie-chicken, regardless of its listing status, is reliant upon efforts well beyond this Land Protection Plan. 

The lesser prairie-chicken was listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in November 2022. The Service has begun the recovery planning process. 

The recovery plan identifies recovery criteria for review of when a species may be ready for downlisting or delisting, and methods for monitoring recovery progress. 

Any resulting conservation benefits for the lesser prairie-chicken realized from this land expansion effort may contribute towards meeting any potential recovery goals established through a recovery planning process.

Conservation easements provide permanent protection to natural resources while retaining private landownership. The landowner retains ownership of the land but sells certain rights identified and agreed upon by both parties. The value a landowner may expect to receive for an easement is dependent on the number of rights the landowner chooses to sell. Because ownership of the land remains with the individual, the property remains on the state and local tax rolls. The Service pays fair market value for property and any rights purchased. 

Fee-Title Acquisition involves an interested landowner requesting the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service acquire most or all the rights to their property. There is a total transfer of property with the formal conveyance of a title to the federal government. In some instances, certain rights such as water rights, mineral rights or use reservations, such as grazing, can be negotiated at the time the property is transferred in ownership. The Service pays fair market value for property and any rights purchased.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has a policy (602 FW 2) that outlines our land protection planning process, which is the process we undergo when considering expanding an existing refuge or establishing a new refuge. More information is available here: https://www.fws.gov/policy-library/602fw2#topic1.

This land protection planning process to establish a new refuge, expand a refuge boundary, or establish a conservation area conservation area
A conservation area or wildlife management area is a type of national wildlife refuge that consists primarily or entirely of conservation easements on private lands. These conservation easements support private landowner efforts to protect important habitat for fish and wildlife. There are 15 conservation areas and nine wildlife management areas in the National Wildlife Refuge System.

Learn more about conservation area , starts with development of a landscape conservation design which includes working with partners to assess current and anticipated future conditions on the landscape and identify priority areas on the landscape.

Based on the landscape conservation design, the Service develops a Land Protection Strategy (LPS) for Director approval that identifies the area's long-term management, biological, and ecological needs. If the strategy is approved, the Service would move forward with development of a Land Protection Plan (LPP) and the NEPA process. Identifying the acquisition boundary is an administrative step the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service must complete to identify the geographic extent, identifying where landowners may be eligible and ultimately sell to the Service, if interested. For the Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) land protection planning process, here are some key dates and milestones for public engagement process:

• March 10, 2022 – A pamphlet with information was emailed and mailed to stakeholders, news release sent to local media, and posted on FWS website to solicit public input on the potential expansion.
• Jan. 3, 2023 – The Service announced a 30-day public comment period on the Draft Land Protection Plan (LPP) and Environmental Assessment through news release to local media, website posting, and email/mailers to various stakeholders.
• Jan. 12, 2024 – Postcards were mailed out to local mailing list announcing approval of the LPP.
• April 16, 2024 – A news release was sent out announcing LPP approval.

The limited acquisition boundary encompasses roughly 7,000,000 acres, within which the Service will strategically protect habitat by acquiring lands in fee title or using conservation easements on up to 700,000 acres from only willing sellers. Within this limit, the Service can work with willing landowners in a thoughtful and deliberate way but does not impose any regulatory requirements or mandates on the private landowners in the conservation area conservation area
A conservation area or wildlife management area is a type of national wildlife refuge that consists primarily or entirely of conservation easements on private lands. These conservation easements support private landowner efforts to protect important habitat for fish and wildlife. There are 15 conservation areas and nine wildlife management areas in the National Wildlife Refuge System.

Learn more about conservation area .

Conservation of up to 700,000-acres is a long-term goal. Filling this will take decades, this provides willing landowners and the Service with options well into the future.

Lands acquired in fee by the Service are removed from the local tax rolls. The Refuge Revenue Sharing Act, as amended, requires the Service to make payments annually to counties and other units of local government to help offset lost tax revenues. Because of ecotourism, national wildlife refuges often generate tax revenue for communities in excess of what was lost from federal acquisition of the land. Refuge lands also provide many public benefits, including public wildlife-dependent recreation and environmental education opportunities, while placing few demands on local services such as schools, fire, and police, compared to developed lands. 

As an agency of the United States Government, the Service, like city, township, county, and state governments, is exempt from taxation. However, ecotourism associated with national wildlife refuges may generate tax revenue for communities. 

In 2023, Muleshoe NWR received a total of 15,000 visits. The refuge offers recreational opportunities including wildlife observation and photography, hunting (migratory and upland birds and big game), hiking and camping; with camping and wildlife observation being the most popular. The refuge attracts visitors from nearby communities, but most visitors come from outside the local area. Local community businesses, including restaurants, grocery stores, motels, service stations, and sporting goods stores, profit from these public use programs.

This plan offers interested landowners a new option to manage their land. Unlike fee title acquisition, conservation easements enable the land to stay on county property tax rolls because the property remains in private ownership, maintaining county tax revenues. Conservation easements may help maintain the character of a region by protecting a traditional and historic way of life and the associated working landscape. Land with historic commercial use, such as ranching, forestry, and farming, is often compatible with or beneficial to wildlife refuge objectives. Conservation easements provide financial benefits for landowners that enable them to preserve the natural and historical value of their farms, ranches, and open spaces and to pass this legacy on to their children and grandchildren.

The final Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge Land Protection Plan can be found here: https://ecos.fws.gov/ServCat/DownloadFile/232579.