"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
Keep Big Bend Wild Does Outreach in Houston
While Keep Big Bend Wild has done significant in-person outreach in the western part of Texas, we know that there is plenty of love for wilderness in Big Bend[…]
National Parks Traveler | Traveler’s View: We Need More Wilderness
Though it's not assured of success, there's an effort under way to see nearly 720,000 acres in Big Bend National Park in Texas designated as wilderness with a capital W.
Protect NPS | Coalition Urges CBP to Minimize Border Barrier Construction and Keep Big Bend National Park Wild
The Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks (Coalition) is comprised of more than 5,000 members, all of whom are retired, former, or current National Park Service (NPS) employees or[…]
Texas Monthly | The Most Useless Border Barrier in Texas
Perhaps Raymond Skiles should be relieved. A few months ago, the Trump administration was laying the groundwork to take part of his 550-acre ranch near tiny Langtry to build[…]
The Border Chronicle | Trump’s Border Wall Is Coming for Some of the Oldest Murals in North America
On June 3, the Department of Homeland Security awarded its largest upfront border wall contract to date to Fisher Sand & Gravel, a North Dakota company with a checkered[…]
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[…]
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.
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[…]
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.
If you would also be willing to help support Keep Big Bend Wild financially please click Donate.
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.
© 2026 Keep Big Bend Wild.
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Images © Rebecca Latson.
Keep Big Bend Wild
P.O. Box 66
Big Bend National Park, TX, 79834