Originally posted July 10, 2026
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 a border wall—part of a wildly unpopular plan to wall off much of West Texas, including Big Bend National Park. But then, in March, the government backed off the proposal without explanation. Skiles, a 71-year-old retired Big Bend National Park wildlife biologist, was pleased that a thirty-foot wall wouldn’t split his place. But he didn’t exactly rejoice.
In June, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the parent agency of the U.S. Border Patrol, awarded a staggering $2.6 billion contract—the largest up-front award for physical border infrastructure ever—to build a four- to six-foot-tall steel “vehicle barrier” and pave new patrol roads for a 156-mile stretch from Sanderson to Lake Amistad. Fisher Sand & Gravel Co., a North Dakota–based contractor with ties to the Trump administration, won the bid.
Read the full article at Texas Monthly.
Photo credit Forrest Wilder.
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