Texas State Lands in the Texas Pack: GLO Leases, PSF Lands and Coastal Hazards

The State of Texas is a mineral owner and a landlord. Through the General Land Office (GLO) it leases oil and gas under state land, grazing and hunting on school land, and submerged tracts along the coast. When you buy a West Texas ranch or coastal acreage, the state's records on that tract are part of the deal. The Texas pack maps them on the abstract grid and lists them in the Texas Land Report.

State oil and gas leases

Texas GLO Leases maps oil and gas leases on state land, colored by status: Active, Producing, HBP (held by production), Expired, Terminated and Cancelled. Click a lease for its lease number, lessee, status, mineral, dates, acres, royalty rate, county and abstract.

In the Texas Land Report, the GLO state leases card lists the leases on the abstract with lease number (shown with the GLO's MF prefix), lessee, status, mineral type, expiration date and royalty. You can also search the GLO leases source by lease number, lessee or county.

TX Hard-Mineral Leases covers the GLO's sulphur, salt, coal and lignite leases, colored by lease status.

Pooled units and voluntary pooling

TX GLO Pooled Units shows units that include state leases, split into active and inactive. The report's GLO pooled units card lists them on the abstract with lease number, unit name, lease type and status. Search by lease number, unit name or operator.
TX GLO Voluntary Pooling shows voluntary pooling agreements covering state leases, colored by lease status. Search by lease number or unit name.

If a state lease on your tract is in a unit, read the two cards together.

PSF lands and GLO land types

The Permanent School Fund (PSF) holds state land whose revenue supports Texas public schools, managed by the GLO.

TX Permanent School Fund Lands maps PSF tracts by land type: PSF School Land, Patented Minerals, Relinquishment Act, PUF and Other. Click a tract for its control number and grantee. In the report, PSF rows show the tract control number, survey and deed acres. Search PSF lands by control number, grantee, survey or county.

TX GLO Land Types is the GLO's statewide classification of state interests: School Land Fees, Relinquishment Act, Patented Minerals, PUF (Permanent University Fund), Free Royalty and Asylum Lands. It is map only, with no search. Two classes come up often:

Relinquishment Act lands. On these lands the surface owner acts as the state's agent in leasing the minerals and shares the lease income with the state. The GLO file has the terms.
PUF lands. Permanent University Fund lands support the University of Texas and Texas A&M systems and are leased through University Lands, not the GLO lease files.

State-agency and upland surface

TX State-Agency Lands maps the inventory of land held by state agencies such as TPWD, TxDOT and the university systems. The report lists the tract number, land name and land type.
TX Upland Surface-Use Leases maps GLO surface leases on PSF uplands by purpose: grazing, hunting, timber, recreation and other. The popup shows the project and lease numbers, status, activity, purpose and total consideration. The report's upland rows show lease number, activity, lessee and status.

An upland lease is someone else's right to use that surface. Know it is there before you plan fences, roads or a hunting lease of your own.

Coastal leases and tracts

Layer	What it shows
Texas Bay Tracts	The GLO's submerged bay tract grid, by tract ID
TX Coastal Leases	GLO Gulf and bay lease polygons, by GLO ID and class
TX Oyster Mariculture Leases	TPWD private oyster leases (map only)
TX Non-Mineral Submerged Leases	Commercial and residential submerged leases, by project and grantee

All but the oyster leases are searchable by their IDs.

Coastal hazard layers

Three layers cover coastal risk:

TX Critical Coastal Erosion. GLO chronic-erosion zones, shaded by the magnitude of the long-term erosion rate, from 0 up to 20 feet per year and more.
TX Shoreline Change Rates. Points from the Bureau of Economic Geology at the University of Texas, colored by end-point rate in feet per year: reds for shoreline retreat, greens for accretion, near-white for stable.
TX Coastal Flood Hazard (FEMA NFHL). The GLO's coastal copy of FEMA flood zones: V and VE (velocity hazard), A and AE (1 percent annual chance), AH and AO (shallow flooding and sheet flow), shaded X (0.2 percent annual chance) and X (minimal).

For coastal abstracts, the report adds a Coastal erosion and hazards card listing each erosion site with its long-term (LR) and end-point (EP) rates in feet per year and the R² of the long-term fit. Inland abstracts skip the card.

Worked example

A buyer is looking at acreage in Abstract 2 Galveston County.

Search it. The match is the S F Austin survey.
Turn on TX Coastal Flood Hazard (FEMA NFHL). Check which zones cover the abstract: A or AE on low ground, V or VE closer to open water, shaded X or X on higher ground.
Turn on TX Shoreline Change Rates and TX Critical Coastal Erosion and pan to the nearest shoreline. Red points mean that stretch has been retreating, green that it has been building.
If the property fronts the bay, turn on Texas Bay Tracts and TX Non-Mineral Submerged Leases to see which submerged tracts front it and whether a pier or other structure is already leased.
Open the report's Texas tab. Read the GLO lease and PSF cards for any state interest. If the abstract falls in a critical erosion area, the coastal card shows the rates.
Note the lease and tract numbers and confirm them with the GLO.

For the description shapes behind these lookups, see Texas abstracts, blocks and surveys.

What is not included

GLO easements are not in the pack because the GLO source does not allow queries; get easement records from the GLO directly. The pack also does not tell you who owns private surface or the minerals under it.

Limits

These are official GLO, TPWD and federal records as loaded, not a title opinion, a survey, an appraisal or a Phase I ESA. An erosion rate describes the past shoreline, not the next storm, and the coastal flood layer is a copy of FEMA's map, not an elevation certificate. Confirm any lease, unit or land-type record with the GLO.

FAQ

Does a GLO lease on the map mean the state owns the minerals under my tract?

It means the GLO has a lease record on that ground. The land type and the lease file tell you what interest the state holds. Relinquishment Act lands, for example, involve the surface owner in the leasing.

Can I find the state leases on a Texas abstract?

Look up the abstract and open the report: the GLO state leases card lists the leases on it. On the map, each lease popup shows its abstract. The GLO leases search source takes a lease number, lessee or county. The Texas pack overview lists every searchable source.

Where do RRC wells and permits fit in?

They are in the same pack. See Texas wells, production and permits. County directories are on the Texas hub, and pack prices are on the pricing page.