Texas Pacific Land Trust
Encyclopedia
The Texas Pacific Land Trust is a publicly-traded land trust
with its administrative office in Dallas, Texas
. Owning well over 900000 acres (3,642.2 km²) in 20 West Texas
counties, TPL is among the largest private landowners in the state of Texas
.
bankruptcy, as a means to dispose of the T&P's vast land holdings. TPL received over 3.5 million acres (14,000 km²), and certain T&P bondholders were allowed to exchange their (now worthless) bonds for trust certificates. The certificates were later divided into "sub-share" certificates (3,000 sub-share certificates is the equivalent of one trust certificate), and the sub-share certificates have been traded on the NYSE since January 1927.
(315,640.09 acres), Reeves
(194,750.28 acres), and Hudspeth
(160,467.44 acres) counties. In addition, TPL owns a 1/128 nonparticipating perpetual royalty interest in 85,413.60 acres (over half of which is in Ector and Midland counties, and a 1/16 nonparticipating perpetual royalty interest in 386,987.70 acres (over 60 percent of which is in Culberson and Reeves counties).
Trust income is derived from land sales, oil and gas royalties, grazing and sundry leases, interest on notes receivable, and interest on investments.. The trust does not actively seek to sell its landholdings, and on rare occasions actually purchases land. (It last did so in 2008, acquiring 640 acres (2.6 km²) from the State of Texas in a parcel adjacent to existing holdings.)
Land trust
There are two distinct definitions of a land trust:* a private, nonprofit organization that, as all or part of its mission, actively works to conserve land by undertaking or assisting in land or conservation easement acquisition, or by its stewardship of such land or easements; or* an agreement...
with its administrative office in Dallas, Texas
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
. Owning well over 900000 acres (3,642.2 km²) in 20 West Texas
West Texas
West Texas is a vernacular term applied to a region in the southwestern quadrant of the United States that primarily encompasses the arid and semi-arid lands in the western portion of the state of Texas....
counties, TPL is among the largest private landowners in the state of Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
.
History
TPL was created in February 1888 in the wake of the Texas and Pacific RailwayTexas and Pacific Railway
The Texas and Pacific Railway Company was created by federal charter in 1871 with the purpose of building a southern transcontinental railroad between Marshall, Texas, and San Diego, California....
bankruptcy, as a means to dispose of the T&P's vast land holdings. TPL received over 3.5 million acres (14,000 km²), and certain T&P bondholders were allowed to exchange their (now worthless) bonds for trust certificates. The certificates were later divided into "sub-share" certificates (3,000 sub-share certificates is the equivalent of one trust certificate), and the sub-share certificates have been traded on the NYSE since January 1927.
Current operations
Over 100 years later, even having sold 75 percent of its original landholdings, TPL is still among the largest private landowners in the State of Texas. As of December 31, 2008, TPL owned 963248.33 acres (3,898.1 km²) of land in 20 West Texas counties, of which around 70 percent is located in CulbersonCulberson County, Texas
Culberson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. It is one of the nine counties that comprise the Trans-Pecos region of West Texas. In 2000, its population was 2,975. Culberson was founded in 1911. It is named for David B. Culberson, a lawyer and Confederate soldier in the American...
(315,640.09 acres), Reeves
Reeves County, Texas
Reeves County is a county located in the US state of Texas. It is one of the nine counties that comprise the Trans-Pecos region of West Texas. In 2000, its population was 13,137. Its seat is Pecos. Reeves County is named for George R. Reeves, a Texas state legislator and colonel in the...
(194,750.28 acres), and Hudspeth
Hudspeth County, Texas
Hudspeth County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. It is one of the nine counties that comprise the Trans-Pecos region of West Texas. As of 2000, the population was 3,344. By 2010, the population had increased to 3,476. Its county seat is Sierra Blanca. The largest city is Fort Hancock...
(160,467.44 acres) counties. In addition, TPL owns a 1/128 nonparticipating perpetual royalty interest in 85,413.60 acres (over half of which is in Ector and Midland counties, and a 1/16 nonparticipating perpetual royalty interest in 386,987.70 acres (over 60 percent of which is in Culberson and Reeves counties).
Trust income is derived from land sales, oil and gas royalties, grazing and sundry leases, interest on notes receivable, and interest on investments.. The trust does not actively seek to sell its landholdings, and on rare occasions actually purchases land. (It last did so in 2008, acquiring 640 acres (2.6 km²) from the State of Texas in a parcel adjacent to existing holdings.)