Posts about Texas

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

A detail from a panel that could be impacted by wall construction. Vibrations from heavy equipment can even damage sites not directly in the path of construction. (Photo credit: Shumla Archaeological Research and Education Center Archive)

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 American West Podcast

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[…]

Protesters carry signs against the border wall on February 28 at the intersection of Highway 118 and FM 170 in Terlingua. There were over 100 people in attendance that day, and there were frequent protests at that spot. (Sarah Vasquez)

The Architect’s Newspaper | Crossing the Line

In recent years, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) archaeologists have uncovered a pit house near the Rio Grande in Far West Texas inside Big Bend Ranch State Park[…]

San Vicente schoolteacher Iva Lee Bales poses with her class at Glenn Springs. The residents of San Vicente were forced out of what's now Big Bend National Park during the 1940s. Photo courtesy of the Archives of the Big Bend, Steve and May Bennet Collection.

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[…]

Looking north from the canyon at Big Bend National Park. Photo by Rebecca Latson.

Deseret News | Ex-superintendents urge Homeland Security not to build through Big Bend National Park

Since February, there’s been uncertainty about whether the Department of Homeland Security would build a wall through stretches of the Big Bend region of West Texas.

Homeland Security Secretary Mullin is being urged to scale back construction plans that could lead to "unaccountable destruction" of Big Bend National Park/Rebecca Latson file.

National Parks Traveler | Former Big Bend National Park Officials Urge Homeland Security Secretary Not To Allow “Wholesale And Unaccountable Destruction” Of The Park

Former Big Bend National Park officials, whose first letter to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin asking that he not waive environmental regulations to allow construction of a border wall[…]

The Rio Grande, in the Santa Elena canyon on 11 April 2026 in Big Bend national park, Texas. Photograph: John Moore/Getty Images

The Guardian | ‘It’s massive destruction’: outcry in Texas over waivers to allow border wall in Big Bend national park

The Trump administration has waived a slew of environmental and historical preservation laws that would allow it to build a towering border wall that cuts through Big Bend national[…]

Rio Grande near Big Bend National Park, Texas

Our Public Lands and Waters | Feds Waive 31 Environmental and Resource Protection Laws to Blast Barriers and Bulldoze Roads in Big Bend National Park

“This decision will be remembered by generations of Texans—and all Americans—as a waste of our money and an assault on not just our iconic desert but on the values[…]

A lawsuit against DHS has been amended to challenge the waiver of dozens of environmental laws to make way for a border wall in Big Bend / Rebecca Latson.

National Parks Traveler | Groups Amend Lawsuit To Challenge Waiver Of Environmental Laws For Big Bend Border Wall

On Tuesday the Department of Homeland Security waived dozens of environmental laws to authorize construction of border barriers and roads through Big Bend, marking the first time in U.S. history that the[…]

Desert landscape. Shutterstock photo.

The Travel | U.S. Government Confirms 17 Miles Of Metal Barriers At Big Bend National Park

On Tuesday, June 9, the Trump administration confirmed it will build 17 miles of metal barriers that will pass through Texas's Big Bend National Park. The announcement came a day[…]

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.

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Images © Rebecca Latson.

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