TERLINGUA, Texas— More than 130 conservation groups, outfitters and rural Texas businesses urged Congress today to block federal funding for border wall construction in Big Bend National Park and Big Bend Ranch State Park.
A wall through Big Bend would sever public access to the Rio Grande and devastate the region’s wildlife, recreation economy, and natural and cultural heritage.
“Congress needs to step in and stop this massively destructive, universally despised trainwreck before it scars the Big Bend region forever,” said Laiken Jordahl, national public lands advocate with the Center for Biological Diversity. “We won't let Washington bureaucrats wall off the Rio Grande, block animals from their drinking water and pave over our beloved campsites, swimming holes and trailheads. Big Bend is worth fighting for and we’re just getting started.”
In today’s letter, the groups and businesses pressed Congress to include a funding ban on border wall construction in both parks in the upcoming Homeland Security appropriations bill.
“Border security is important, and here in Big Bend we’ve shown it can be done with technology and boots on the ground — not a destructive wall,” said Bob Krumenaker, former Big Bend National Park superintendent and chair of Keep Big Bend Wild. “Law enforcement across the political spectrum say that a wall is simply unnecessary to secure the border here, and its harm to local communities and the resources and values of these wild lands would be grossly out of proportion to any possible benefits. Nothing would permanently destroy the wildness of Big Bend more than a border wall with its accompanying roads, fences and lights.”
On Feb. 17 the Department of Homeland Security waived 28 environmental and cultural resource protection laws to fast-track construction in the Big Bend region — including through Big Bend Ranch State Park — and has since awarded construction contracts for much of the region. Local media reports that contractors have been surveying inside Big Bend National Park.
In late February, DHS released planning maps showing border walls sealing off every reachable stretch of the Rio Grande in both parks. After bipartisan public outcry from local sheriffs, residents, elected officials and business leaders, the agency released revised maps, removing physical wall segments from the national park and replacing them with “detection technology” — an undefined term — while keeping border walls planned across much of the state park.
DHS said that border barriers are “still in the planning stages,” signaling the maps could change again with no public input or congressional approval. Without action from Congress, both parks remain in the crosshairs.
“I am a second-generation business owner, and a wall here will personally put me and my family out of business,” said Will Blackstock, owner of Further Adventures in Terlingua, Texas. “Building a physical barrier through beloved public lands is absurd. The economic impacts on our rural economy would be devastating, as river-focused tourism is the mainstay of many of our area’s largest businesses and is a principal draw for visitation to the Big Bend area. I was born and raised in Big Bend. This place is my home and this fight is personal on every level.”
The DHS push to wall off the Big Bend region comes even as migrant apprehensions along the southern border have fallen to historic lows. The Big Bend Sector accounts for just 1.3% of total apprehensions nationwide.
“The communities of Far West Texas depend heavily on tourism, outdoor recreation, and the preservation of the region’s natural beauty,” said Billy Bartko, owner of Far Flung Outdoor Center in Terlingua, Texas. “Visitors come from around the world to experience the quiet, open landscape, and the sense of wilderness that defines Big Bend. Transforming that environment with miles of steel wall, construction corridors and lighting threatens the very qualities that sustain local businesses and livelihoods here. The only beneficiaries of this project would be the contractors paid to build the wall. For everyone else — the residents, landowners, businesses, wildlife, and the land itself — the costs would be enormous and permanent.”
Big Bend National Park and Big Bend Ranch State Park protect more than 1.1 million acres of public lands along the Rio Grande, including long stretches designated by Congress as a Wild and Scenic River. The parks shelter vast desert landscapes, critical wildlife habitat and thousands of years of cultural history, drawing visitors from around the world to boat, hike, watch wildlife and explore the backcountry.
The parks are major economic drivers for rural West Texas. In 2024 the national park drew 561,459 visitors who pumped an estimated $56.8 million into nearby communities, generating $63.7 million in total economic output, and supporting jobs and businesses across Brewster County and surrounding towns.
