Making Texas Bigger: Dr. Dawn Buckingham on Fighting Cartels & Saving the Alamo

Key Takeaways

Saving the Alamo: The $550 million Alamo restoration is Commissioner Buckingham's most important project. A temporary protective structure will be built over the 300-year-old building for ~18 months to replace a damaging roof and repair walls wicking salt water. This is necessary to prevent "irreparable damage" during the restoration.

Making Texas Bigger: The GLO declared islands in the Rio Grande as Texas property, citing the 1836 treaty. This action, which took 48 hours to approve, gave law enforcement access to "kick the cartels out of their safe havens" where IEDs, guns, drugs, and "rape trees" were found.

Funding Texas Education: The GLO manages 13 million acres and is the largest mineral owner in Texas. This land generates revenue for the Permanent School Fund, contributing $6 billion to public education in the last two and a half years alone.

Serving Veterans: A core GLO function is its service to veterans, which includes running 10 veterans nursing homes, 5 veterans cemeteries, and a mortgage lending program that has provided $1.5 billion in home loans to veterans in the last two years.

The Future of Energy: While unapologetically defending oil and gas, the GLO is also pioneering new technologies on state lands. This includes breaking China's monopoly on rare earth minerals and developing solutions in graphene, hydrogen, and small nuclear power.

Resources Mentioned

• Texas General Land Office (GLO)
• The Alamo
• Alamo Restoration Project
• Permanent School Fund (PSF)
• Coastal Spine Project
• Texas Veterans Land Board