State Lands Press Releases
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Turning Gulf waters into drinking water focus of effort
April 15, 2013(AUSTIN)—Turning the Gulf of Mexico into a long-term source for fresh drinking water is the focus of an unprecedented study Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson and the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority (GBRA) agreed to begin today. The $2 million effort will investigate the feasibility of build...more
Patterson drilling down for answer to Texas water crisis
July 09, 2012(AUSTIN)—Along Interstate 35, between Austin and San Antonio, the Texas Economic Miracle is thirsting for water. Tight restrictions on the Edwards Aquifer and the high costs of pipelines are choking off the potential growth of homes and businesses. But on one 2,000-acre tract of land north of New ...more
Patterson calls for changes to Endangered Species Act
June 19, 2012(WASHINGTON)—Testifying today before the House Natural Resources Committee, Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson described abuse of the Endangered Species Act by federal authorities who propose adding species to the endangered list based not on sound science, but in response to lawsuits filed by federally fu...more
Patterson takes the lizard fight to Congress
June 18, 2012(AUSTIN)—Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson will testify before the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee at 9 a.m. (Central) Tuesday, June 19, about recently discovered abuse of the Endangered Species Act by lawyers funded with taxpayer dollars. "Species - like the dunes sagebrush lizard in...more
Federal reptile dysfunction defeated
June 13, 2012(AUSTIN)—- Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson today claimed victory in an initial battle after U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced federal bureaucrats will not list the dunes sagebrush lizard as an endangered species. "Texans stood up and were heard," Patterson said...more
TEXAS LAND COMMISSIONER AND CEMEX RESOLVE EL PASO MINERAL RIGHTS DISPUTE
February 28, 2012(AUSTIN)—Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson, the Texas General Land Office and CEMEX are pleased to announce a resolution of recent litigation that provides income to the Texas Permanent School Fund from CEMEX's future mining operations at McKelligon Canyon quarry. Current operations...more
Western States petition Congress to fix Endangered Species Act
January 13, 2012(AUSTIN)—Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson is leading an effort to unite 23 western states to oppose the federal government's process for adding birds, bugs, lizards and other critters to the list of protected endangered species. The Western States Land Commissioners Association, w...more
Public trust land managers from across the West come to Austin
January 05, 2012(AUSTIN)—The Western States Land Commissioners Association will meet at the Hyatt Regency Austin Jan. 8-12 to swap ideas on managing millions of acres of public trust land. "Vast resources and abundant land have always been the hallmark of the American West," said Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Pat...more
Patterson: Combs exceeded her authority to reach F1 deal
November 23, 2011(AUSTIN)—Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson is asking Attorney General Greg Abbott to investigate the legality of Comptroller Susan Combs' $250 million taxpayer gift to bring Formula One racing to Texas. "This deal to give away a quarter of a billion in taxpayer dollars is a real turkey - New...more
Christmas Mountains to become open-air classroom
September 15, 2011(AUSTIN)—Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson and Texas State University System Chancellor Brian McCall today announced the transfer of the Christmas Mountains to the Texas State University System. The rugged and remote 9,269-acre tract of land in Brewster County will become an outdoor classroom, open to...more
Major announcement Thursday on Christmas Mountains
September 14, 2011(AUSTIN)—Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson will make a major announcement about the Christmas Mountains at a 9 a.m. press conference Thursday, Sept. 15. The press conference will be on the ninth floor of the Stephen F. Austin Building, at 17th and North Congress Avenue. The Christmas Mountai...more
Patterson wins huge lawsuit against CEMEX
September 02, 2011(AUSTIN)—The schoolchildren of Texas today a won huge appeal against CEMEX over the ownership of building materials mined from Permanent School Fund lands. Damages in the case could be worth more than half a billion dollars. Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson took CEMEX to court in ...more
Oil and gas lease sale shatters previous Permanent School Fund record
April 05, 2011(AUSTIN)—Competition for oil and gas leases on Permanent School Fund lands in West Texas earned more than $108 million Tuesday for the Permanent School Fund, a total that’s more than twice the previous record set in 1979. “This is an all-time record, $108 million just for the right to ex...more
New interest in old west Texas fields keeps bids high
October 05, 2010(AUSTIN)—A continued surge of interest in West Texas exploration kept the average per acre bid high today at a regular Permanent School Fund oil and gas lease sale, Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson announced today. "The average bids today were the second highest we've ever seen for oil and...more
Patterson: Record lease sale good for Texas education
September 22, 2010(AUSTIN)—Jerry Patterson, chairman of the Permanent University Fund's Board for Lease of University Lands, announced the results of a record oil and gas lease sale in Midland today: $207 million. "Today's lease sale was a jaw-dropper," Patterson said. "The $207 million brought in today for the Per...more