1. United States
2. Texas
3. Letter

You receive plenty of letters from me telling you what I think you are getting wrong, so I believe it is equally important that I contact you when you do something I believe is right. Thank you for supporting the Big Bend National Park Boundary Adjustment Act and for taking responsibility for carrying this legislation forward. Protecting Big Bend and providing a means for additional land to become part of the national park is a good thing, and I appreciate your work on it. I firmly believe that public officials should hear from their constituents not only when we disagree with them, but also when they take actions we support. We may disagree on a great many issues, but on this one, I want you to know that I noticed, and I am grateful. I would also encourage you to go further in protecting Big Bend and the surrounding region. I appreciated your statement that border security and conservation are not mutually exclusive, but I would like to see you take a stronger position against construction of a border wall or other barriers that would damage this extraordinary and ecologically sensitive landscape. Big Bend does not exist in isolation. The wildlife, watersheds, migration corridors, communities, ranchlands, and wild character of the entire region deserve protection. You have demonstrated with the Boundary Adjustment Act that conservation of this remarkable part of Texas can be something worth working for. I hope you will carry that same commitment into decisions affecting the broader Big Bend region and speak forcefully when federal actions threaten it. But most importantly, I wanted to say this plainly: thank you. I disagree with you often, and you certainly hear from me when I do. When you do something I believe is right, you deserve to hear that from me, too.