What the proposal said, and what the decision did

No figure from the proposal has been checked against the decision on this fight yet. What the record does hold is the issues ledger below.

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department has applied for a federal permit to accidentally catch and release ESA-listed sea turtles during routine gill net surveys in Texas bays and estuaries. The incidental take permit would legally cover unintentional sea turtle interactions that occur while TPWD conducts fisheries monitoring, which is otherwise a lawful activity. NMFS is accepting public comments on the application and the accompanying Conservation Plan before making a decision.

In the agency’s own words

Notice is hereby given that the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) has applied for an incidental take permit (ITP) pursuant to the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA). The permit application is for the incidental take of ESA-listed sea turtles associated with otherwise lawful fishery-independent gill net surveys within Texas bays and estuaries. NMFS is publishing this notice to allow other agencies and the public an opportunity to review and comment on the application and Conservation Plan. All comments received will become part of the public record and will be available for review.

Federal Register 2026-05183 ↗

The groups on this fight

4 groups predicted likely to care in Texas

Predicted likely to care is a guess from the group's sourced work in Texas, with no link to this decision. Give straight to them; nothing routes through us.

• Big Bend Conservancy

  Predicted likely to care · a guess

  Big Bend National Park, Texas: A nonprofit partner of Big Bend National Park.

• Friends of Balcones Canyonlands NWR

  Predicted likely to care · a guess

  Works Texas: They work only in Texas.

• National Parks Conservation Association

  Predicted likely to care · a guess

  Padre Island National Seashore, Texas: Plaintiff in the challenge to the blanket Gulf oil and gas endangered species exemption, naming Padre Island among the threatened parks.

• Southern Environmental Law Center

  Predicted likely to care · a guess

  Padre Island National Seashore, Texas: Filed the D.C. Circuit challenge to the Gulf-wide exemption for the plaintiff coalition.

Every group above is on STAND for Public Lands, with its court record, its filings and who backs it.

Who signs it

The notice names no signer PLAN could read. PLAN names a decision-maker only when the document names one.

The ground

The window has closed, so there’s no watch to set on it here.

The photograph on this page: Kemp’s ridley sea turtle hatchlings crossing the sand toward the Gulf, Padre Island National Seashore, Texas (NPS photo). More Than Just Parks.

In court on this ground

This fight isn’t bound to a land unit in PLAN’s record yet, so there are no court cases to show for its ground.

Who holds the vote

PLAN’s record doesn’t tie a member of Congress to this fight yet. The scorecard grades the votes and bills that decide public lands; nothing joins a vote or a bill to this decision, so there’s no member to name here without guessing.