Congressional Public Lands Score by More Than Just Parks

Ted Cruz

Republican · U.S. Senate · Texas

Ranked #54 (tied) of 98 scored

Scored under 60%.

Sen. Ted Cruz, a Republican from Texas, earns an F on the Congressional Public Lands Score. Of the 19 scored Senate votes, Cruz cast 0 for public lands and 15 against, and missed 4. The two closest: Yea on One Big Beautiful Bill (H.R.1), 50 to 50, and Yea on Overturning Boundary Waters Mining Ban (H.J.Res.140), 50 to 49. Cruz's seat is not on the 2026 ballot.

Every scored vote: 19 of 19 U.S. Senate votes counted

Anti-lands
Lilly Fish and Wildlife and Parks (En Bloc) S.Res.817
En bloc confirmation of 74 nominees under S.Res.817, including Kevin Lilly as Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Fish and Wildlife and Parks, the official overseeing the National Park Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Lilly, a Texas wealth manager, drew formal opposition from the National Parks Conservation Association, and senators from both parties questioned his lack of land management experience. Confirmed 51-47. Senators who voted Yea confirmed every nominee in the package.
Voted Yea · August 7, 2026 · Roll call 225, 51 to 47
Anti-lands
Pearce BLM Director (En Bloc) S.Res.690
En bloc confirmation of 49 nominees under S.Res.690, including Stevan Pearce as Director of the Bureau of Land Management, the agency managing 245 million acres of public land. As a congressman, Pearce repeatedly backed transferring or selling federal public land. Confirmed 46-43. Senators who voted Yea confirmed every nominee in the package.
Voted Yea · May 18, 2026 · Roll call 125, 46 to 43
Anti-lands
Overturning Boundary Waters Mining Ban H.J.Res.140
CRA resolution overturning the 20-year mining ban on 225,000 acres of the Superior National Forest upstream of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, the most visited wilderness in America. Became Public Law 119-85.
Voted Yea · April 16, 2026 · Roll call 84, 50 to 49
Anti-lands
Opening Arctic Refuge to Drilling H.J.Res.131
CRA resolution overturning the 2024 environmental protections for oil and gas leasing in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge coastal plain, stripping safeguards from the 1.56-million-acre coastal plain calving grounds of the Porcupine caribou herd
Voted Yea · December 4, 2025 · Roll call 632, 49 to 45
Anti-lands
Overturning Powder River Basin Coal Protections (WY) H.J.Res.130
CRA resolution nullifying the Bureau of Land Management's 2024 Buffalo Field Office resource management plan amendment in Wyoming, which made approximately 413,000 acres of federal coal unavailable for future leasing in the Powder River Basin.
Voted Yea · November 20, 2025 · Roll call 623, 51 to 43
Anti-lands
Opening Western Arctic to Drilling S.J.Res.80
CRA resolution nullifying the 2022 management plan for the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, which had closed about half of the 23-million-acre Western Arctic reserve to new oil and gas leasing
Voted Yea · October 30, 2025 · Roll call 599, 52 to 45
Missed
Overturning Central Yukon Protections (AK) H.J.Res.106
CRA resolution nullifying the Bureau of Land Management's Central Yukon resource management plan in Alaska, which designated 21 areas of critical environmental concern covering approximately 3.6 million acres. The resolution removed a land-plan barrier to the Ambler Road, which would cross Gates of the Arctic National Preserve; the administration had restored the road's federal permits three days earlier. Became Public Law 119-50.
Did not vote · October 9, 2025 · Roll call 560, 50 to 46
Missed
Overturning Miles City BLM Protections (MT) H.J.Res.104
CRA resolution rolling back Bureau of Land Management resource management plans for the Miles City Field Office in Montana, opening public lands to expanded industrial use
Did not vote · October 8, 2025 · Roll call 549, 52 to 47
Missed
Overturning North Dakota BLM Protections H.J.Res.105
CRA resolution rolling back Bureau of Land Management resource management plans for the North Dakota Field Office, removing protections from public lands across the state
Did not vote · October 8, 2025 · Roll call 556, 50 to 45
Anti-lands
Boren USDA Under Secretary (En Bloc) S.Res.412
En bloc confirmation of 108 nominees under S.Res.412, including Michael Boren as USDA Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment, the official directly overseeing the U.S. Forest Service. Confirmed 51-47. Senators who voted Yea confirmed every nominee in the package.
Voted Yea · October 7, 2025 · Roll call 547, 51 to 47
Anti-lands
Nesvik USFWS Director PN25-35
Confirmed Brian Nesvik as Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the agency responsible for endangered species protections and the National Wildlife Refuge System
Voted Yea · August 1, 2025 · Roll call 470, 54 to 43
Anti-lands
One Big Beautiful Bill H.R.1
Reconciliation bill mandating four Arctic Refuge Coastal Plain lease sales, five National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska lease sales, a four-million-acre coal leasing mandate, coal royalty rate cuts from 12.5% to 7%, a 250-million-board-foot yearly increase in national forest timber sales through 2034, and rescinding Inflation Reduction Act conservation funding
Voted Yea · July 1, 2025 · Roll call 372, 50 to 50
Anti-lands
Vaden Deputy Agriculture PN12-43
Confirmed Stephen Vaden as Deputy Secretary of Agriculture, second in command of the department that houses the U.S. Forest Service
Voted Yea · June 10, 2025 · Roll call 301, 51 to 44
Missed
MacGregor Deputy Interior PN13-10
Confirmed Katharine MacGregor as Deputy Secretary of the Interior, the department's chief operating officer, who led first-term efforts to shrink national monuments and expand drilling on public lands
Did not vote · May 14, 2025 · Roll call 250, 54 to 40
Anti-lands
Overturning Glen Canyon Safeguards H.J.Res.60
CRA resolution overturning the National Park Service rule limiting off-road vehicle use in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, reopening those routes to motorized use
Voted Yea · May 8, 2025 · Roll call 239, 50 to 43
Anti-lands
Preventing Public Lands Sell-Off S.Amdt.2107
Budget resolution amendment (H.Con.Res.14) to bar the use of proceeds from selling federal public land for deficit reduction, the Senate's recorded vote on public land sales ahead of the reconciliation bill
Voted Nay · April 5, 2025 · Roll call 181, 48 to 51
Anti-lands
Reinstating Fired Land Managers S.Amdt.540
Budget resolution amendment (S.Con.Res.7) creating a reserve fund to reinstate the federal employees fired from the National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and U.S. Forest Service
Voted Nay · February 20, 2025 · Roll call 68, 48 to 52
Anti-lands
Rollins Agriculture Confirmation PN11-12
Confirmed Brooke Rollins as Secretary of Agriculture, who oversees the U.S. Forest Service and 193 million acres of national forests and grasslands
Voted Yea · February 13, 2025 · Roll call 53, 72 to 28
Anti-lands
Burgum Confirmation PN11-3
Confirmed Doug Burgum as Secretary of the Interior, who oversees the Bureau of Land Management, the National Park Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, despite his stated agenda to expand oil and gas extraction on public land
Voted Yea · January 30, 2025 · Roll call 26, 80 to 17

Roll calls and tallies from senate.gov, read October 26, 2026. Which side counts as pro-lands is the scorecard's call on each vote (methodology). Provision ratings: none of these bills has an approved rating yet, so none is named here.

Call Senator Cruz through the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121.

Open the full record in the scorecard

Public lands bills Cruz sponsors or cosponsors

In the 119th Congress, Cruz sponsors 2 and cosponsors 6 public lands bills.

S.2975 PIPELINE Safety Act of 2025
Sponsor · Introduced October 6, 2025 · Not yet rated
S.J.Res.4 A resolution to overturn the Energy Conservation Program: Energy Conservation Standards for Consumer Gas-fired Instantaneous Water Heaters
Sponsor · Introduced January 23, 2025 · Not yet rated
S.Res.837 Designating the week of August 22 through August 30, 2026, as "National Park Week"
Original cosponsor · Signed on August 6, 2026 · Not yet rated
S.3496 United States Legal Gold and Mining Partnership Act
Original cosponsor · Signed on December 16, 2025 · Not yet rated
S.2967 Border Lands Conservation Act
Cosponsor · Signed on October 15, 2025 · Not yet rated
S.1596 Jocelyn Nungaray National Wildlife Refuge Act
Original cosponsor · Signed on May 5, 2025 · Not yet rated
S.Res.180 Designating the week of April 19 through April 27, 2025, as "National Park Week"
Original cosponsor · Signed on April 10, 2025 · Not yet rated
S.J.Res.12 A resolution to overturn the Waste Emissions Charge for Petroleum and Natural Gas Systems: Procedures for Facilitating Compliance, Including Netting and Exemptions
Original cosponsor · Signed on February 4, 2025 · Not yet rated

Bills and cosponsors from the congress.gov API, read September 24, 2026. A bill is rated only when a named person approves a rating that quotes its provision; none of these has one yet.

Cruz's committees

Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation (Chairman)
Aviation, Space, and Innovation (Ex Officio); Coast Guard, Maritime, and Fisheries (Ex Officio); Consumer Protection, Technology, and Data Privacy (Ex Officio); Science, Manufacturing, and Competitiveness (Ex Officio); Surface Transportation, Freight, Pipelines, and Safety (Ex Officio); Telecommunications and Media (Ex Officio)
Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
Africa and Global Health Policy (Chairman); Near East, South Asia, Central Asia, and Counterterrorism; Western Hemisphere, Transnational Crime, Civilian Security, Democracy, Human Rights, and Global Women's Issues
Senate Committee on Rules and Administration
Senate Committee on the Judiciary
Border Security and Immigration; Crime and Counterterrorism; Federal Courts, Oversight, Agency Action, and Federal Rights (Chairman); the Constitution

Committee seats from unitedstates/congress-legislators, read July 3, 2026.

Public lands in Texas

161 federal land units lie in or reach into Texas. Parks with a More Than Just Parks guide: Big Bend National Park, Guadalupe Mountains National Park.

Listed park guides first, then by size; the largest 40 of 161 are named.

Big Bend National Park 785,097 acres
Guadalupe Mountains National Park 86,840 acres
Big Bend Proposed or Recommended Wilderness Area 576,703 acres
Fort Cavazos 219,324 acres
Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge 195,710 acres
Sam Houston National Forest 163,247 acres
Sabine National Forest 161,158 acres
Davy Crockett National Forest 161,095 acres
Angelina National Forest 154,309 acres
Padre Island National Seashore 131,161 acres
San Bernard National Wildlife Refuge 130,444 acres
Fort Bliss 123,315 acres
Sam Rayburn Recreation Area 116,718 acres
Aransas National Wildlife Refuge 116,539 acres
Sam Rayburn Reservoir Army Corps of Engineers · 113,190 acres
Big Thicket National Preserve 108,722 acres
Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge 98,114 acres
Wright Patman Recreation Area 81,011 acres
Rita Blanca National Grassland 77,366 acres
Mcfaddin National Wildlife Refuge 59,859 acres
Amistad National Recreation Area 54,359 acres
Ray Roberts Recreation Area 47,205 acres
Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge 47,030 acres
Lewisville Recreation Area 46,194 acres
Joint Base San Antonio 46,137 acres
Guadalupe Mountains Wilderness Area 45,829 acres
Whitney Point Recreation Area 45,028 acres
Lake Meredith National Recreation Area 40,818 acres
Jocelyn Nungaray National Wildlife Refuge 38,585 acres
Lavon Recreation Area 37,671 acres
Cooper Recreation Area 32,045 acres
Somerville Recreation Area 29,940 acres
Lake O' The Pines Recreation Area 29,416 acres
Trinity River National Wildlife Refuge 29,090 acres
Lewisville Lake Army Corps of Engineers · 27,705 acres
Belton Recreation Area 25,863 acres
Wright Patman Lake Army Corps of Engineers · 24,688 acres
Whitney Lake Army Corps of Engineers · 23,678 acres
Wallisville Lake Army Corps of Engineers · 23,279 acres
Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge 21,681 acres

Drilling, mining and logging on record in Texas: 445 oil and gas leases (257,312 acres).

Threatened public lands in Texas

Big Bend National Park Developing
Padre Island National Seashore
Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge (Boca Chica) Critical
National Forests in Texas (Oil & Gas Leasing) Developing

Federal land units from PAD-US, matched to the state's districts in the More Than Just Parks record, refreshed October 19, 2026; acres are each unit's full size, and units overlap, so they are not added up. Easements on private land are left out. Fires from NIFC; mining claims, leases and timber sales from BLM and Forest Service records; read October 26, 2026.

Who funds Cruz on lands issues

PACs and other committees gave Cruz's campaign $577,245 in the 2025-26 cycle. Across the 4 cycles on record, oil, gas, mining and timber PACs gave $84,300, and conservation PACs gave nothing.

Cycle	All PACs and committees	Oil and gas	Mining and coal	Timber	Conservation
2019-20	$238,150	$6,300	none	$500	none
2021-22	$85,080	$4,500	none	$1,000	none
2023-24	$4,728,662	$35,500	none	none	none
2025-26	$577,245	$36,500	none	none	none

Itemized contributions from committees to the candidate (FEC S2TX00312), net of refunds, read October 26, 2026. Industry is the giving PAC's industry in the More Than Just Parks record. A contribution says who gave, not why anyone voted as they did.

How Cruz compares

The median senator scores 5%. Cruz scores 0% and ranks #54 (tied) of 98.

What to ask Cruz

Washington office: 167 Russell Senate Office Building. Phone (202) 224-5922. Write to Cruz · Official site

From Cruz's own record:

Why did you vote Yea on Lilly Fish and Wildlife and Parks (En Bloc) (S.Res.817)?
Why did you vote Yea on Pearce BLM Director (En Bloc) (S.Res.690)?
Why did you vote Yea on Overturning Boundary Waters Mining Ban (H.J.Res.140)?
Why did you vote Yea on Opening Arctic Refuge to Drilling (H.J.Res.131)?
Why did you vote Yea on Overturning Powder River Basin Coal Protections (WY) (H.J.Res.130)?
Why did you vote Yea on Opening Western Arctic to Drilling (S.J.Res.80)?
Why did you miss the vote on Overturning Central Yukon Protections (AK) (H.J.Res.106)?
Why did you miss the vote on Overturning Miles City BLM Protections (MT) (H.J.Res.104)?
Why did you miss the vote on Overturning North Dakota BLM Protections (H.J.Res.105)?
Why did you vote Yea on Boren USDA Under Secretary (En Bloc) (S.Res.412)?
Why did you vote Yea on Nesvik USFWS Director (PN25-35)?
Why did you vote Yea on One Big Beautiful Bill (H.R.1)?
Why did you vote Yea on Vaden Deputy Agriculture (PN12-43)?
Why did you miss the vote on MacGregor Deputy Interior (PN13-10)?
Why did you vote Yea on Overturning Glen Canyon Safeguards (H.J.Res.60)?
Why did you vote Nay on Preventing Public Lands Sell-Off (S.Amdt.2107)?
Why did you vote Nay on Reinstating Fired Land Managers (S.Amdt.540)?
Why did you vote Yea on Rollins Agriculture Confirmation (PN11-12)?
Why did you vote Yea on Burgum Confirmation (PN11-3)?

Offices and phones from the Senate and House member feeds and unitedstates/congress-legislators, checked October 22, 2026.

Questions people ask

How did Ted Cruz vote on One Big Beautiful Bill?

Ted Cruz voted Yea on One Big Beautiful Bill (H.R.1) on July 1, 2025. The Senate vote was 50 to 50, and the scorecard counts Nay as the vote for public lands.

Is Ted Cruz up for election in 2026?

No. Ted Cruz's Senate seat from Texas is not on the 2026 ballot. Cruz's grade on the 19 scored Senate votes so far is an F.

What public lands are in Texas?

161 federal land units lie in or reach into Texas. The largest are Big Bend National Park (785,097 acres), Big Bend Proposed or Recommended Wilderness Area (576,703 acres) and Fort Cavazos (219,324 acres).