1. United States
2. Texas
3. Letter

Texas leadership must act immediately to protect one of the greatest natural treasures not just in our great state of Texas, but in all of America: Big Bend National Park. What is happening right now along the Rio Grande in the Big Bend region is reckless, destructive, and completely unacceptable. The Trump administration’s Department of Homeland Security has already waived 29 federal laws to fast-track border construction projects in this fragile desert ecosystem. Those waivers gutted protections under the National Environmental Policy Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Clean Water Act, the Archaeological Resources Protection Act, and multiple Native American cultural preservation laws. Now there are growing fears that Big Bend National Park itself could be next. This is not “security.” This is environmental vandalism disguised as policy. Even Texas border sheriffs — the people actually responsible for public safety in these regions — have publicly stated that a border wall through Big Bend is neither practical nor strategic. The terrain is some of the harshest and most remote in North America. Large sections of the Lower Canyons can only be reached by multi-day river expeditions. This is not a major migration corridor. There is no rational justification for bulldozing roads, detonating canyon walls, destroying wildlife habitat, and permanently scarring protected federal land in one of the last truly wild places left in the United States. Big Bend is home to black bears, mountain lions, peregrine falcons, golden eagles, rare cactus species, and one of the most biologically diverse desert ecosystems on Earth. The Rio Grande Wild & Scenic River is an irreplaceable lifeline for wildlife and local communities across the Southwest. Road construction, heavy machinery, blasting, floodlight systems, and vehicle barriers threaten fragile water systems that scientists warn may never recover once damaged. And beyond the environmental destruction, this would devastate local economies. Communities surrounding Big Bend survive because millions of visitors travel there specifically to experience untouched wilderness, dark skies, solitude, and the breathtaking beauty of the Chihuahuan Desert. Once industrial patrol roads and steel barriers carve through this landscape, that magic is gone forever. Tourism drops. Local businesses suffer. Texas loses a piece of its soul. The Center for Biological Diversity called this “the groundwork for the destruction of one of the wildest places in America,” and they are absolutely right. Texas leaders cannot stay silent while federal officials bulldoze protected land, erase environmental safeguards, and gamble with a national treasure that belongs to future generations of Texans. We are begging you: use every legal, political, and public pressure tool available to stop this before irreversible damage is done. Protect Big Bend. Protect the Rio Grande. Protect Texas.