Opposition to Physical Border Wall Construction in Big Bend National Park

I am writing to you today as a constituent to express my strong opposition to the construction of a physical border wall through and adjacent to Big Bend National Park and the broader Big Bend region. While securing our nation's borders is a critical priority, constructing a 30-foot steel physical barrier through West Texas’s rugged desert landscape, natural canyon barriers, and iconic national parklands is fiscal waste and environmental destruction that undermines effective security. Opposition to a physical wall in Big Bend is deeply bipartisan, shared by environmental stewards, business owners, and local conservative law enforcement. A joint statement released by a bipartisan group of five West Texas border sheriffs—including Brewster County Sheriff Ronny Dodson and Terrell County Sheriff Thaddeus Cleveland—urged federal officials to reconsider, noting: "Based on decades of combined experience working this terrain, we believe that construction of a continuous physical border wall in the Big Bend region would not represent the most practical or strategic approach to border security in this area." Sheriff Dodson, a veteran lawman and conservative voice in Brewster County (home to Big Bend National Park), has repeatedly pointed out that wall construction in remote canyon country is both ineffective and damaging to local economies. Pointing to smart border surveillance technology already deployed in the region, Sheriff Dodson remarked: "I have 250 cameras out in the field, and I catch things you wouldn't believe... Walls make sense in urban environments, but out in the middle of nowhere they do virtually nothing to make the border a safer place to live and work." Building permanent infrastructure in this area risks: * **Severe Economic Impact:** Disrupting a tourist economy that brings hundreds of thousands of visitors to West Texas annually, supporting local businesses and jobs. * **Fiscal Waste:** Expending massive taxpayer resources to build barriers across flash-flood washouts, steep cliffs, and impassable terrain that already act as natural deterrents. * **Irreparable Ecological Damage:** Carving roads and heavy steel barriers through fragile desert wilderness and critical wildlife corridors. I urge you to listen to the front-line law enforcement officers, county judges, and residents who know this land best. Please oppose waivers of environmental laws and vote against funding for physical barriers in the Big Bend region, advocating instead for targeted, technology-driven security measures that protect both our sovereignty and our national treasures. Thank you for your time and for representing our community.