A Wall and Wilderness Do Not Mix at Big Bend National Park
By guest author Evelyn L. Merz of Keep Big Bend Wild (https://keepbigbendwild.org/)
Please join us at one of two presentations on Wednesday, March 18 or Tuesday, March 24. See details below.
If there’s one thing everyone should agree upon, it’s that a border wall built between you and the Rio Grande River in Big Bend National Park cancels the whole concept of wilderness. The recent news that the current administration is proposing to extend the Border Wall structure through Big Bend National Park highlights just how precarious protection of our national parks has become. The Border Wall solution now being floated by the administration is incompatible with wilderness and would irreparably harm Big Bend’s integrity as a national park.
…And the structural wall would not be confined to Big Bend National Park. Current Customs and Border Protection (CBP) planned border barrier projects extend from Fort Quitman upstream to Amistad Dam downstream. The border wall plan also threatens the magnificent Big Bend Ranch State Park, The Rio Grande Wild and Scenic River unit, the Amistad National Recreation Area, and the state-owned Black Gap Wildlife Management Area.
That is plenty of wall and plenty to lose. The only way to stop the border wall is to push back. Some recent news claims victory because the CBP Smart Wall Map (https://www.cbp.gov/border-security/along-us-borders/smart-wall-map) changed the color of the line through Big Bend National Park to indicate a change from constructing a physical bollard wall to “Detection Technology.” Changing the color of a line on a digital map does not guarantee a wall will not be built.
The color of the line was changed on March 5th without any formal commitment from the government. The change was only made because of the immediate backlash from the public. If the public does not maintain opposition until CBP formally renounces the bollard barrier, it would be simple to reinstate plans for a structural wall. Even now, the Big Bend Ranch State Park is still dangerously vulnerable since the CBP Smart Wall Map shows a physical wall there.
Keep Big Bend Wild, a collaborative effort by people who share a common appreciation of Big Bend NP is holding two public meetings in Houston to discuss what the public can do to push back against the Big Bend Border Wall and why wilderness designation at Big Bend under the Wilderness Act of 1964 is long overdue. Please join us at one of two presentations:
Wednesday, March 18 from 6:30 to 8:00 PM at Leonel Castillo Community Center at 2101 South St., Houston 77009
AND
Tuesday, March 24 evening from 7:00 to 8:30 PM at Bay Area Community Center at 5002 E NASA Pkwy, Seabrook, 77586 (east of NASA)
The undeveloped areas of Big Bend National Park that were recommended for wilderness protection more than forty years ago are currently being managed to protect their wild values. However, this is a National Park Service (NPS) administrative decision that could be changed by a future administrative action. These areas are vulnerable to development pressure until they are formally admitted into the National Wilderness Preservation System – something only Congress can do.
KEEP BIG BEND WILD’s presentation will encompass the need for protecting Big Bend and why wilderness designation is an important tool. KBBW will point out why the administration’s massive construction proposal is unnecessary in light of past and ongoing cooperation between the NPS and U.S. Border Patrol which has ensured that NPS’s conservation mission and the border security mission of the U.S. Border Patrol are complementary and compatible.
Please contact Evelyn L. Merz at evelynnola1@outlook.com for questions or more information.