Texas park expands by 6,100 acres—but only if landowners agree
S. 1112 — Big Bend National Park Boundary Adjustment Act · Filed by John Cornyn (R-TX) · 1 cosponsor · Introduced Mar 25, 2025 · Passed chamber
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What it does
This bill allows the Secretary of the Interior to expand Big Bend National Park in Texas by acquiring up to 6,100 acres of adjacent land through donation or voluntary exchange (not forced purchase). Once acquired, the new land becomes part of the park and is managed under standard national park rules.
Why we flagged it
The bill's sole operative mechanism is voluntary land acquisition to expand a national park. It is straightforward conservation legislation with no hidden provisions or narrow beneficiaries.
What the text implies
- Voluntary acquisition model means expansion depends on willing sellers; park may not reach full 6,100-acre target if landowners decline.
- Map reference (155/167,296, dated November 2022) is fixed; any subsequent land-use changes in the target area are outside the bill's scope.
- No appropriation amount specified; funding mechanism and timeline are not addressed in the bill itself.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Ordinary citizens gain expanded access to a national park and protected public lands without forced displacement of private owners. The prohibition on eminent domain protects property rights while enabling voluntary conservation.
Named in the bill
Big Bend National Park, Secretary of the Interior, National Park Service, State of Texas
Where it stands
1 cosponsor: 1 Democrats.
- Mar 25, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Mar 25, 2025 — Referred to Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources”
- Jun 18, 2025 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources discharged by Unanimous Consent. (consideration: CR S3458)”
- Jun 18, 2025 — Passed the Senate · Congress.gov: “Passed Senate without amendment by Voice Vote. (text: CR S3460)”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
1 lobbying clients named this bill on 1 disclosure filings across 1 quarter, Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $10,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 2 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 0% of bills with at least one filing.
John Cornyn, the sponsor, reported $2,042,484 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- Big Bend Conservancy — $10,000 on 1 filing
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (1,374 characters) on Jun 8, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 20, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
“Texas park expands by 6,100 acres—but only if landowners agree” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/s1112 Report an error
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