The Great American Land Rush... 2.0

The second land rush is here... and it's bigger than oil.

Dear Fellow Land Baron (in Training):

A few years ago, I wrote about the "Great American Land Rush" in the Permian Basin, did a live event, and made some bold predictions.

Two companies I recommended got bought out… and a third’s stock reached peak gains of 268%.

That was Texas Pacific Land Corporation (NYSE: TPL), which is still one of my favorite investments in the energy sector.

That wasn't luck. It was like finding a twenty-dollar bill in your winter coat, except the coat cost five dollars, and the twenty turned into a hundred.

As rewarding as the Permian story was, I believe we're on the cusp of something even bigger.

And it's not oil.

Thank You, Congress.

I’ve said it before… and I’ll say it again.

America is for sale. Literally.

We’re selling everything to the highest bidder. Things like pipelines, LNG ports, data center access…

But there’s no more valuable asset than land.

Buried deep in the Senate's "Big Beautiful Bill" is a mandate that should make every serious investor pay attention.

This quiet provision would force the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service to sell 2.2 million to 3.3 million acres of public land across 11 Western states over the next five years.

Those states are Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. (Does no one want to buy in Montana?)

We're talking about an area larger than Connecticut. Twice.

Or roughly 0.5-0.75% of all federal holdings.

That sounds small, but we’re talking about prime real estate. Here’s the thing.

They’d be pushing these sales at a breakneck pace.

Agencies would nominate parcels every 30-60 days. They’d work under the vague umbrella of "housing or community development."

Doing so would disable any environmental reviews or public hearings.

And… it gets wilder.

Once that land is sold.

It’s sold forever. There is no clawback.

Now, states might be able to buy some of that land. But let’s be honest.

This is going to the highest bidder, which could include private equity, hedge funds, and sovereign wealth funds.

America… for sale.

Why You Should Care

I've seen investors jump into fresh land plays based on tectonic shifts.

This event stands out for four reasons.

First, this is permanent.

Once this land moves to private hands, it's gone forever.

Second, this is “resource-rich” land.

Many parcels sit atop geothermal hotspots (Utah and Nevada), lithium and rare-earth reserves, strategic aquifers, and uranium deposits. This could be HUGE for the Enhanced Geothermal Systems companies that I profiled in a recent trip to Utah.

We're talking about control over groundwater basins and mineral rights that become infinitely easier to exploit under private ownership.

Third, it's infrastructure-ready.

This isn't scrubland in the middle of nowhere (well, some of it was).

This land could host renewable energy projects, battery storage facilities, nuclear microgrids, and water pipelines.

We’re talking about the backbone of America's energy transition.

Finally, there are no real safeguards.

This bill would exempt national parks, monuments, and wilderness areas.

Still, it skips over conservation and recreation areas thanks to the "housing or community development" terms.

Under these tags, we could see large-scale industrial or energy projects and huge amounts of domestic manufacturing move into these areas.

This is my kind of setup.

This, to me, is the Permian land rush all over again, just with a different resource and a government fire sale instead of fracking technology.

How I'm Playing the New Rush

Here's what I'm NOT doing.

I’m not jumping into speculative auctions for raw parcels.

That's too risky, opaque, and frankly, too much work.

Instead, I'm sticking to my proven playbook.

We can target companies that already own and monetize resource-rich acreage.

Why fight for scraps when you can buy the bakery?

We have to focus on passive cash flow.

This means emphasizing royalties, water services, easements, and mineral rights.

This is stuff that pays you while you sleep.

And we want to find optionality.

The best land plays can pivot to whatever the market demands: energy, infrastructure, housing, crypto mining, or whatever Silicon Valley dreams up next.

That's precisely how TPL played out in the Permian.

While others were drilling holes and hoping, TPL collected checks from everyone who needed their land to make money.

It's the difference between being a gold miner and owning the only shovel store in town.

The Bottom Line (Because Your Time Is Valuable)

The Permian land rush already rewarded early believers.

My pick, TPL, surged 268% at its peak.

A second land rush is underway, with up to 3.3 million acres of prime public land heading to private hands across 11 Western states. This one's more stealthy, strategic, and potentially profitable than anything we saw in Texas.

Here's the thing about government fire sales…

They happen fast, whether you're paying attention or not.

Smart money isn't chasing land speculators or betting on auction outcomes.

Smart money targets land-service firms with existing infrastructure, proven cash flows, and the flexibility to capitalize on whatever emerges from this legislative land grab.

Texas Pacific Land remains the blueprint: cash-generating, resource-rich, and positioned for whatever frontier emerges from this government garage sale.

This isn't theory. It's not wishful thinking or financial horoscope reading.

It's a replay of history, only bigger and broader.

Like the Permian, the next wave belongs to those who already own the ground and know how to monetize it today, tomorrow, and ten years from now.

And yes, I'm still bullish on TPL and into whatever comes next.

I’ll start digging into this story a lot more in July. As always, I’ll report back.

Stay positive,

Garrett Baldwin