"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
A Billion Worlds | A Conspiracy to Murder Mariscal Mountain in Big Bend?
Posted July 29, 2026 When I saw on the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s preposterously named “Smart Wall” map that the route of a new and unnecessary patrol road[…]
Marfa Public Radio | James Talarico slams ‘corrupt’ Big Bend border wall on campaign trail
James Talarico, the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Texas, slammed the Trump administration’s plan to build a 175-mile stretch of border wall in the Big Bend region at a campaign event[…]
Texas Observer | What Is (and Isn’t) Happening with the Border Wall in Big Bend
You’ve probably heard about the Trump administration’s plans for a border wall through Big Bend. Or its plans not to build a wall at all, but instead to put[…]
The Alpine Avalanche | Border Wall Outcries Fall on Deaf Ears
The ongoing controversy involving the building of a border wall in Big Bend looks to be forging ahead, despite multiple organizations and conservation advocates’ pleas, as well as comments[…]
The American West | Ep. 34: Big Bend and the Deserts of the West
In the eyes of the world, the West’s several deserts have become defining landscapes for the modern region. But one of them, the Chihuahuan Desert, has produced the only[…]
Big Bend Sentinel | ‘We already lost it once’: Eminent domain returns to the Big Bend
When Everett Ewing Townsend, a 23-year-old customs inspector stationed on the border in the Big Bend, saw the South Rim of the Chisos Mountains for the first time, he[…]
Valley Central.com | Proposed ban on Big Bend border wall fails in U.S. House funding panel
A proposal to bar the Trump administration from building a border wall in Big Bend National Park died Wednesday in the U.S. House Appropriations Committee, after the GOP-controlled panel[…]
Austin American-Statesman | This is the edge of America. Why would we change it?
We stood at the doorstep of a foreign land and a gorge millions of years in the making. I told my kids: This is the edge of America.
Marfa Public Radio | Former Big Bend superintendents sound alarm about widespread border construction plans in the national park
A group of six former superintendents of Big Bend National Park are warning about the Trump administration’s border security plans for the park, which recently revealed details show include[…]
Austin American-Statesman | Texas Democrats, former Big Bend leaders urge halt to border barrier plans
Every Democratic member of the Texas congressional delegation has joined seven former Big Bend National Park leaders in calling for the Trump administration to halt plans to construct border[…]
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Support Keep Big Bend Wild
Click this button to add your name to the growing list of individuals, businesses, and organizations supporting a wilderness designation for the undeveloped lands of Big Bend National Park.
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Every contribution helps defray the cost of our volunteers to produce materials and travel to meetings to build awareness and strengthen our coalition.
Contributions supporting Keep Big Bend Wild are managed by the El Paso Community Foundation and are tax deductible as allowed by law.
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Images © Rebecca Latson.
Keep Big Bend Wild
P.O. Box 66
Big Bend National Park, TX, 79834