Land Office purchases massive 353,785-acre ‘Brewster Ranch’

BREWSTER COUNTY — Last Thursday the Texas General Land Office (GLO) closed on a historic deal to purchase a massive 353,785-acre ranch in Brewster County from Texas Mountain Holdings, owned by Brad Kelley.

The “Brewster Ranch” was listed for $245,678,330. An assemblage of 28 historic ranches, the property complex lies primarily east of Highway 385. It abuts the 801,163-acre Big Bend National Park, 103,000-acre Black Gap Wildlife Management Area and the Rio Grande.

“It’s big, it’s Texas, and it’s wild,” states the property listing.

Kelley spent over 25 years amassing the expanse, according to James King of King Land & Water, who represented Texas Mountain Holdings in the sale. “He’s the anti-fragmentation machine — and that’s the biggest threat in Texas, is fragmentation of our landscapes — so this is a win for us who are in the conservation arena,” King said.

“It’s really awesome that the land commissioner, the General Land Office, saw the opportunity for the state of Texas to invest in Texas,” King said. “It’s going to be in public ownership.”

When the Brewster Ranch was originally listed in 2019 it was an even larger tract at 431,846 acres. Ranches on the periphery — Horse Mountain, Tesnus and YE Mesa, ranging in listing price from $14 to $26 million — were sold off over time.

King said a lot of people showed interest in the ranch, but at the end of the day “it’s hard to find a buyer for that large a scale of a transaction.” Entities thought to have a “conservation outcome,” including The Nature Conservancy, Texas Parks and Wildlife and the Park Service were in discussions.

“In the end, the GLO is the one who stood up and did the transaction,” King said.

The oldest state agency in Texas, the GLO manages the Permanent School Fund, a fund with over $56 billion in assets that distributes $2.2 billion to public schools annually. The GLO’s investments vary widely, from public lands to oil and gas leases to buildings in downtown Austin to stocks and bonds.

“You name it, they’ve invested,” King said.

In addition to the acquisition of the Brewster Ranch, the GLO recently purchased a 1,402-acre ranch along the Rio Grande in Starr County, which the agency intends to erect a 1.5 mile border wall on, according to a press release. While no official plans have been announced for the Brewster Ranch, Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham offered the following statement to The Land Report.

“As Texas Land Commissioner and the steward of more than 13 million acres of state land, I am proud to have acquired this beautiful property for the State of Texas,” Buckingham said. “By securing this large swath of land along our southern border, the GLO is not only blocking foreign adversaries from purchasing this land but also ensuring this mineral-rich property will be generating revenue for the school children of Texas.”

Brewster County Judge Greg Henington said while he has been in touch with the GLO and the commissioner regarding the ranch acquisition, “they have not been clear about what they are going to do with it.” He said as far as he was aware no final decisions have been made.

Henington did express concerns about the estimated $90,000 in lost property taxes. “From my perspective, it’s like, okay, here’s another piece of public land coming out of my county and going off our tax rolls,” Hengington said. “I’ve been kind of working with the GLO to say, ‘Okay, well, how can you help us, so to speak.’”

King said Texas Mountain Holdings — the ranch’s previous owner — leased land out to various parties for ranching operations, and it is likely that the GLO will continue that practice for the time being. “They’re probably going to utilize that same strategy for maybe a year until they get an understanding about what they really have and what the potential uses are down there,” King said.

The GLO has an office in Alpine, and other land holdings in West Texas, including Lake Ranch south of Marfa and a ranch in the Quitman Mountains south of Sierra Blanca. “They know the business of managing land, and they know the business of working with lessees on leasing that land,” King said.