This section states Texas policy for managing coastal public land and its surface estate, including preservation, public access priorities, navigation protection, prevention of unauthorized use, and limits on alienation.
Sec. 33.001. POLICY. (a) The surface estate in the coastal public land of this state constitutes an important and valuable asset dedicated to the permanent school fund and to all the people of Texas, and it is the declared policy of this state that the estate be managed pursuant to the policies stated in the following subsections of this section. (b) The natural resources of the surface estate in coastal public land shall be preserved. These resources include the natural aesthetic values of those areas and the value of the areas in their natural state for the protection and nurture of all types of marine life and wildlife. (c) Uses which the public at large may enjoy and in which the public at large may participate shall take priority over those uses which are limited to fewer individuals. (d) The public interest in navigation in the intracoastal water shall be protected. (e) Unauthorized use of coastal public land shall be prevented. (f) Utilization and development of the surface estate in the coastal public land shall not be allowed unless the public interest as expressed by this chapter is not significantly impaired by it. (g) For the purposes of this chapter, the surface estate in coastal public land shall not be alienated except by the granting of leaseholds and lesser interests and by exchanges of coastal public land for littoral property as provided in this chapter. (h) Vested rights in land shall be protected, subject to the paramount authority of the state in the exercise of police powers to regulate the exercise of these rights, and the orderly use of littoral property in a manner consistent with the public policy of this state shall not be impaired. Acts 1977, 65th Leg., p. 2382, ch. 871, art. I, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1977.