The fight to protect Big Bend, one of America's last wild places
Months after Congress approved billions for infrastructure across one of the least-trafficked stretches of the southern border, bulldozers arrived at Big Bend National Park, West Texas's wild crown jewel.
Big Bend National Park, one of America's most remote and wild landscapes, is at the center of a controversial construction project. Initially approved with billions in infrastructure funding, bulldozers are now clearing land in the 801,163-acre preserve, larger than Rhode Island. The site, adorned with thousand-foot cliffs and empty desert, has drawn an unlikely coalition of cattle ranchers, environmentalists, sheriffs, Republican senators, and country singers.
Together, they argue that securing the border shouldn't come at the expense of the park's unique environment and communities. With only 3,096 apprehensions last year — a mere 1.3% of all Southwest border arrests — the border security spending in the Big Bend Sector amounts to $14.5 million per mile. However, the construction pause has reignited the debate about who decides the cost and scope of border security measures and what Texas residents may have to give up.
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