On July 31, 2026, Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham issued cease-and-desist letters to U.S. Customs and Border Protection and contractor Barnard Construction after her office found the company had cleared more than a mile of state-managed land in Presidio County without General Land Office authorization, according to the Texas General Land Office. The dispute centers on the state’s authority over its trust land and the conditions for federal construction work there.
Buckingham supports stronger border security, but has also asserted that federal crews must respect Texas property rights. In an interview with the Dallas Express, she described the Presidio County dispute as a property-rights issue, regardless of the federal government’s border-security aims.
According to the Big Bend Sentinel, the cleared acreage is subject to GLO surface lease rules that prohibit modifications, excavation or construction without written consent. Texas Scorecard identifies the tract as part of a 10,000-acre grazing and hunting lease held by Trans Pecos Ice LLC, an entity linked to YETI cooler co-founder Ryan Seider. The state notified the leaseholder of a breach for allowing unauthorized access; the lease, designated SL20210037, limits use to grazing, hunting and recreation.
A State Agency Acts on Its Land
The Big Bend Sentinel reported that the July cease-and-desist was the first time a Texas state agency had taken direct legal action to halt federal border wall construction in the Big Bend region. Earlier opposition there had come mainly from local residents and municipal lawsuits.
Buckingham’s office said the unauthorized clearing damaged state property that generates revenue for Texas schoolchildren, according to the Dallas Express. The commissioner told the publication that protecting state land is her responsibility regardless of who occupies the White House.
Clearing Cartel Safe Havens Along the Rio Grande
Separate from the Presidio County construction dispute, Buckingham’s office has pursued efforts to assert state ownership over river islands and remove places that smugglers could use for cover. She described that broader strategy in an interview with the Dallas Express.
The island effort dates to September 2023, when Buckingham asserted Texas ownership over Fronton Island, a 170-acre landform in the Rio Grande, according to the Texas General Land Office. That claim enabled Texas law enforcement to launch Operation Flat Top, clearing heavy brush and leveling the island; state officials reported a 100 percent decrease in cartel activity there afterward. In March 2025, the GLO expanded the effort by identifying Beaver Island (20.3 acres) and Roma Island (12.13 acres) near Roma as state and federal territory, and requested federal help to clear weapons stashes and smuggling routes after GLO survey teams determined the islands’ sovereign land status.
The GLO has also used land acquisitions to advance border enforcement infrastructure elsewhere along the river. The agency purchased a 1,402-acre ranch along the Rio Grande in Starr County, where a 1.5-mile state border wall was planned, and offered the land to federal authorities in late 2024 for potential deportation facilities.
Guarding the Alamo Through a Fragile Roof Replacement
Buckingham also discussed preservation of the Alamo as one of her office's most important responsibilities, outlining plans for a temporary protective structure over the historic church while crews replace its roof and address structural concerns, per the Dallas Express. The Texas Historical Commission approved a permit in April 2025 allowing Alamo Trust, Inc. to build a 50- to 60-foot temporary enclosure meant to shield the structure during a two-year roof replacement, according to the San Antonio Express-News, with completion expected by 2027. The hangar-like canopy is designed to protect delicate interior stonework while workers dismantle the concrete roof in sections.
The urgency behind that project traces to drainage problems and material degradation at the Alamo Church, the San Antonio Report found. The mission church had no roof at all during the 1836 battle, until the U.S. Army added a wooden one in 1850. The roof work is one piece of the broader $550 million Alamo Plan, backed by more than $400 million in state legislative appropriations, which aims to preserve and restore the historic site, reclaim the 1836 battlefield footprint, and open a new visitor center and museum by 2027, according to the Alamo Trust.
The Stakes for Texas Schools
Both fights trace back to the same agency mandate: the GLO oversees roughly 13 million acres of state trust lands, generating revenue that helps fund the Permanent School Fund, per Citizen Portal. That funding stream helps explain why Buckingham's office moved so quickly against unauthorized clearing in Presidio County, since damage to trust land translates directly into lost revenue earmarked for Texas schoolchildren.
How the Permanent School Fund Supports Schools
The Permanent School Fund helps support public education in Texas.
Buckingham's dual focus on border enforcement and historic preservation was the subject of a recent interview hosted by Sarah Zubiate-Bennett on Let's Talk Local, where she laid out both the Presidio County dispute and the Alamo's preservation timeline. Hoodline previously covered the GLO's Brewster Ranch deal, part of the same land strategy now colliding with federal contractors in Presidio County.
