Originally posted June 17, 2026
Lawmakers and former leaders of Big Bend National Park are sounding the alarm after the Trump administration recently waived dozens of environmental and historic protections. The groups believe the policy changes pave the way for a border wall to be built through the national park, which sits along the U.S.-Mexico border.
One letter was written by 16 members of Congress. The other was penned by seven former park superintendents. Both criticized the federal government for waiving at least 29 protections from the Texas park, including those under the Endangered Species and Clean Water Acts.
“There is no border security emergency here that warrants giving Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) unfettered authority to unnecessarily destroy some of the wildest parts of Big Bend or to disregard the overwhelmingly bipartisan will of the people, the actual data showing minimal numbers of border crossings inside the park, and the values that Texans and all Americans hold dear as represented by the National Parks,” Congressional signatories wrote in their June 16 letter.
Read the full article at Outside.com
Photo credit Stacey Campbell/Getty Images
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