Big Bend is no place for a border wall.

Photo: Sandra Ramos

New plans to build a border barrier through one of our country’s most iconic landscapes, the Big Bend region, risk permanent damage to the area – including Big Bend National Park, the Rio Grande Wild and Scenic River and Amistad National Recreation Area. Constructing border barriers and related infrastructure would threaten park wildlife, thriving local communities, and once-in-a-lifetime park experiences for visitors.

Urge Congress to oppose these plans and call for border solutions that won’t harm this irreplaceable national park and the communities that depend on Big Bend.

This message will be sent to CONGRESS:

{contact_data~title} {contact_data~firstName} {contact_data~lastName} {contact_data~suffix},

I oppose the recent proposal from Customs and Border Protection to expand border barrier construction through the Big Bend region, with physical infrastructure including patrol roads and vehicle barriers proposed for a significant portion of Big Bend National Park and Big Bend Ranch State Park. This infrastructure development will wreak havoc on this iconic and inspirational landscape, and the communities that call this region home. What happens in the landscapes and the communities next to these parks can have significant impacts to these special places.

Despite reports that a physical border wall will not be built within Big Bend National Park, the Department of Homeland Security issued multiple contracts for construction of border barrier in the Big Bend region, with contracts totaling more than $7.56 billion. Paved roads and construction development will degrade the wildness of this special place. And a physical wall anywhere in the region will have significant impacts all along the river - choking off vital wildlife migration routes, intensifying flooding risks, and inflicting irreparable damage to one of our country’s most iconic national parks.

Customs and Border Protection already maintain a presence in Big Bend, given its status as a borderland park, and the current system is not presenting undue burdens on the park.  Harsh desert conditions and unforgiving mountain terrain already form natural barriers along this portion of the border. Building physical barriers here makes no logistical sense and only serves to harm the region’s wild scenery and thriving community-based tourism economy.

Big Bend is one of the last wild places we have left. Hundreds of thousands of visitors come from around the country each year to experience the majesty of Big Bend landscape. We need to look for border solutions that are as unique as our landscapes and communities. And we must ensure the solutions we find don’t destroy the national treasures we’ve committed to protecting.

Please reach out to the Trump administration and call for border security solutions in the Big Bend that don’t destroy this treasured national park.

{user_data~First Name} {user_data~Last Name}
{user_data~Street} {user_data~Address 2}
{user_data~City}, {user_data~State} {user_data~Zipcode}

[Your Name]
[Your Address]
[City, State ZIP]