Danger at the Texas border: Can we help prevent irrevocable damage to the treasure that is Big Bend National Park?
by Susie Hairston
It has been many, many years since I hiked and camped in Big Bend National Park, but the images and memories of my time there are still vivid. It was May, and my husband and I spent our first night in the Big Basin — a bowl shaped area snuggled into the mountains. The night was one of wild drama as a huge lightning and thunder storm came blowing in with strong winds. We had an incredible view of the lightning as the storm approached. The next morning we drove down from Big Basin to Panther Junction. The rain of the night before had turned the desert floor into a carpet of lush neon greens and yellows so vibrant they seemed unearthly. During our stay, I found myself gazing directly into the eyes of a ringtail as I rounded a corner while hiking. We had the unforgettable experience of backpacking up into the Chisos Mountains and watching the sunset over the Sierra del Carmen in Mexico from our campsite at the top.
Big Bend National Park is part of a large UNESCO designated biosphere region, encompassing extraordinary natural and cultural resources and containing the largest intact portion of the Chihuahuan Desert ecosystems in the U.S., which is one of the most biologically rich and diverse desert ecoregions in the world. Part of what makes it so special is that it is transnationally managed by Mexico and the US so the region is kept together on the basis of the ecosystem and not by national boundaries (Big Bend Biosphere Region, NPS). It’s 800 acres encompasses the Chisos Mountains, the Chihuahuan Desert, and the Rio Grande.
The darkest of the Dark Sky Parks in the U.S., it affords awe-inspiring views of the Milky way.
Despite its remote location, over 500,000 visitors each year are drawn by its beauty and variety to visit.
Building a border wall in this area threatens ecosystems, wild life, and humans in the Big Bend region:
The fact that the wall would cut across the Rio Grand would mean the disruption of its flow and potential flooding and disruption of aquatic life.
A press release from The National Parks Conservation Association points out, “Building a border wall through Big Bend National Park would choke off vital wildlife migration routes, intensify flooding risks, and inflict irreparable damage to one of our country’s most iconic national parks.”
Nearly 100 threatened and endangered species could be affected by border construction across the southern border, according to the Center for Biological Diversity. . . It would transform one of the darkest night-sky preserves on the continent into a corridor of industrial lighting. https://morethanjustparks.
As Monica Morrison of Texas Native Cats explained to me in an interview last year, in order to maintain genetic diversity and stay healthy mountain lions depends on their ability to travel unobstructed between mountain lion groups in Mexico and the US.
Other animal populations as well, such as black bears, rely on the ability to cross freely between Mexico and the US.
Construction of the border wall will require destroying large swaths of pristine ecosystem to build roads and clear a space for the wall.
In an area already suffering from water scarcity, the water needed for concrete for the wall will deplete desert aquifers.
“Last week, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) waived 28 laws for environmental protection and historical and archeological preservation to expedite construction.”
Emergency waivers for laws that require environmental, cultural and historical studies to determine who much damage might be done to valuable areas are meant for emergencies. Data and interviews with residents on both sides of the political divide who live in and around Big Bend National Park show that there is no such emergency.
Data shows that the benefits of building a wall in Big Bend National Park does not warrant the destruction it will cause:
Steep canyon walls and mountains prevent crossing in many locations. Where the Rio Grande is surrounded by more easily traversed terrain, that terrain is only accessible after crossing hundred of miles of waterless, mountainous land.
“On the U.S. side of the border, nearly 100 miles of rugged parkland and a Border Patrol checkpoint separate any potential border crossers from the closest U.S. town to the north. Border Patrol also operates within the park ”. https://insideclimatenews.org/
“Historically, the number of people crossing unauthorized into the United States in the Big Bend region is much lower than in more urban, populous areas.” https://insideclimatenews.org/
“Apprehensions of people crossing the border illegally fell 74% from 2023 to 2025, according to CBP data.” https://www.marfapublicradio.
What you can do:
Go enjoy this amazing multi-ecosystem dark sky park.
Support organizations that are trying to protect one of our last pristine places and point of pride for our state.
A local artist and resident of the area around Big Bend Ranch State Park (which is North of the national park) and Big Bend National Park started a change.org petition, asking that both parks be spared from the wall, which, to date has 55,805 signatures. You could add yours to that list. https://www.change.org/p/stop-
A local group called “No Big Bend Border Walls” has a page on how to call or write your representatives about this issue as well as a petition to sign: https://nobigbendborderwall.
Contact your senators and representative yourself: https://www.congress.gov/
Resources and references:
https://bigbendsentinel.com/
https://bigbendsentinel.com/
https://insideclimatenews.org/
https://nobigbendborderwall.
https://www.chron.com/life/
https://www.cbp.gov/border-
https://www.documentcloud.org/
https://www.facebook.com/
Pattiz, Will and More than Just Parks. “Why the Trump Admin Suddenly Wants to Wall Off Big Bend National Park. Why not waive 28 federal laws to fast-track 112 miles of steel wall through a national park where border crossings have dropped 74%?” FEB 27, 2026 https://morethanjustparks.