Posts about Big Bend National Park

Photo ©Rebecca L. Latson

"I stand with the Keep Big Bend Wild coalition"

I stand with the Keep Big Bend Wild coalition in their mission to secure official Wilderness designation for Big Bend National Park's untouched backcountry. This fight isn't new—the National Park Service first championed it in 1974, during my tenure as Director, and reaffirmed the call in 1978. Now, it's time for Congress to act. By enshrining permanent, statutory protection, we can ensure Big Bend’s breathtaking landscapes remain shielded from policy shifts or development threats. It's heartening to see the backing of former NPS Directors, united in our commitment to safeguarding America's wilderness legacy so future generations can continue to embrace its solitude, beauty, and ecological richness."

~ Ronald H. Walker, NPS Director 1973-1975

Big Bend National Park entry sign

Marfa Public Radio | Former Big Bend National Park superintendents express ‘grave concerns’ about Trump administration’s border plans

Seven former superintendents of Big Bend National Park are expressing “grave concerns” with the Trump administration’s plan for new border barriers, roads and surveillance technology in the park, describing[…]

Landscape at Big Bend National Park in Texas

Our Public Lands and Waters | Big Bend National Park Border Infrastructure Would Be “The Most Egregious Assault” on Our National Park System, Seven Former Superintendents Say

Last Saturday, May 16, I reported that Homeland Security had awarded the largest border wall construction contract in U.S. history for a wall in Big Bend National Park. The $1.7[…]

A dirt road through Big Bend National Park

Ride Apart | Despite Opposition, Feds Have Already Awarded Border Wall Contract Through Big Bend National Park

I'd been working on a story about the proposed border wall that aimed to bisect Big Bend National Park in Texas for the last few weeks, having recently spoken[…]

The Rio Grande in Big Bend National Park

Our Public Lands and Waters | Instead of a Border Wall, CBP Plans to Pave Backcountry Roads Along Rio Grande in Big Bend National Park

After severe and sustained bipartisan blowback—including from all Big Bend border sheriffs, all Texas border county judges, and countless furious locals—it appears that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)[…]

NYTimes Article

NYTimes | A border wall plan unites Republicans and Democrats in Texas

Originally posted at New York Times. Where the Rio Grande cuts steep cliffs through the arid West Texas mountains, dozens of spring break visitors on a canoe tour learned[…]

Possible border wall impacts to Big Bend National Park

National Parks Traveler | Simulation Shows The On-The-Ground Impacts Of A Border Wall In Big Bend

An engineer’s simulation of the possible effects from a border wall proposed for Big Bend National Park by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency shows widespread impacts, from light pollution and[…]

An example of vehicle barriers previously installed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection near Presidio, Texas in 2019. Photo by Greg Davis / U.S. Customs and Border Protection

Marfa Public Radio | Big Bend National Park could see vehicle barriers, patrol roads under latest changes to border wall plans

The Trump administration is once again planning to install physical border barriers within Big Big National Park in West Texas, according to an updated map of “Smart Wall” projects that now[…]

Residents stage a weekly roadside protest against proposed border wall construction on 11 April in the Big Bend town of Terlingua, Texas Photograph: John Moore/Getty Images

The Guardian | Trump’s latest border wall plans to slice through Big Bend national park: ‘Our lives are being upended’

Tractors suddenly appeared at the entrance to Chispa Road near the US-Mexico border in rural Big Bend, Texas, in late March. Contractors informed Yolanda Alvarado, a cattle rancher, that they were[…]

Trump’s Border Wall Could Go Through Big Bend National Park. Here’s What We Have to Lose.

Originally posted at MyGrandCanyonPark.com Tony Drewry’s song, Chinga Tu Muro, has become a local battle cry since U.S. Customs and Border Protection unveiled plans in February for a border[…]

Safe Travels Podcast

Safe Travels Podcast | Big Bend National Park: The Border Wall Debate with Bob Krumenaker

Bob Krumenaker, a seasoned conservationist (over 41 years with the NPS) and former superintendent of Big Bend National Park, discusses the ecological, cultural...

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Images © Rebecca Latson.

Keep Big Bend Wild
P.O. Box 66
Big Bend National Park, TX, 79834