Originally posted May 27, 2026
Seven former superintendents of Big Bend National Park penned a letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin last week imploring the federal government not to waive environmental and cultural resource protection laws fast-tracking border wall construction and to communicate clearly with park staff and the local community about their plans for security infrastructure in and around the park. “There does not need to be a conflict between a strong border, a thriving local economy, and conservation of the wildest, most intact landscapes of Texas and our nation,” the letter reads.
The letter was drafted in response to a series of recent developments in the ongoing saga of barrier infrastructure upgrades along the U.S.-Mexico border. On May 11, DHS awarded Southwest Valley Constructors, a subsidiary of Kiewit, with a massive $1.7 billion contract “for border wall in Big Bend Texas,” and on May 15, the agency waived dozens of laws for a stretch of the Rio Grande Wild and Scenic River in the Lower Canyons.
Read the full article at The Big Bend Sentinel.
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