1. United States
2. Texas
3. Letter

I am writing to demand immediate congressional action to protect Big Bend National Park and the surrounding public lands from further destruction caused by border wall construction. The reported pause in construction at Big Bend is welcome, but simply stopping the bulldozers is not enough. Customs and Border Protection and the administration must be held responsible for repairing the damage that has already been done. Disturbed land should be restored, damaged habitat rehabilitated, unnecessary roads and construction areas removed, and affected areas monitored to ensure the desert ecosystem can recover. Big Bend is not expendable. It is one of the most ecologically important and irreplaceable landscapes in the United States. Public lands belong to the American people, and no administration should be allowed to destroy them while bypassing environmental protections, scientific review, public input, or the expertise of National Park Service staff. I am deeply concerned about what I view as an increasingly tyrannical approach by this administration toward our laws, institutions, and public lands. Congress has a responsibility to provide a meaningful check on executive power. Our national parks cannot be treated as obstacles that can simply be bulldozed whenever an administration decides its political priorities are more important than conservation. I urge you to: Require CBP to fully repair and restore areas of Big Bend damaged by border construction. Permanently prohibit additional border wall construction within Big Bend National Park and other protected public lands. Restore and strengthen environmental review requirements for federal border projects. Require consultation with the National Park Service, scientists, conservation experts, Tribal nations, and affected local communities before any future border infrastructure is approved on or near protected lands. Use congressional oversight and appropriations authority to prevent federal agencies from using emergency or waiver powers to bypass protections for national parks and other public lands. Pausing the destruction is only the first step. Congress must make sure the damage is repaired and establish protections strong enough to prevent this or any future administration from doing it again. Please defend Big Bend, defend our national parks, and defend the principle that America’s public lands belong to the public, not to whichever administration happens to be in power.