Thousands gathered in front of the Texas state capitol on Saturday to protest the construction of a border wall through Big Bend National Park.
Big Bend National Park is the largest single chunk of public land in Texas and is known and loved in the region for its desert landscapes, dark skies, river rafting, and hiking opportunities through the Chisos Mountains. “I have found no one, Republican or Democrat, who wants a wall in the Big Bend,” said Jerry Patterson, a former Texas land commissioner who attended the protest. The protest occurred on the heels of reporting by Inside Climate News after it obtained documents from earlier this year showing that the Border Patrol is also seeking access through multiple Texas state parks in the region in order to construct a border barrier.
Public outcry first erupted in February when Customs and Border Protection (CBP) updated an online map of the border wall to show plans that appeared to include steel wall through portions of both Big Bend National Park and neighboring Big Bend Ranch state park. CBP has since indicated it will use “detection technology” in the national and state parks in the Big Bend region instead of a physical barrier, but the agency has not publicly stated that a wall is off the table. “None of these comments are binding in any way. They are just statements,” said Laiken Jordahl with the Center for Biological Diversity. “They could show up with bulldozers and dynamite trucks and start building in the state park tomorrow. And nothing could stop them.”
White House budget paints bleak picture for public lands
On Friday, the White House released its Fiscal Year 2027 “skinny budget” proposal that reinforces the administration’s war on renewable energy and climate initiatives while boosting fossil fuels. The budget proposes a 12.9 percent spending cut at the Interior department, but that number includes wildfire funding that would be moved over from the U.S. Forest Service, suggesting the effective cuts to programs and personnel at the Interior department could be significantly larger. “National parks are already short-staffed heading into summer. 2026 is shaping up to be one of the driest and most dangerous years for Western communities,” said Center for Western Priorities Deputy Director Aaron Weiss. “This budget tells the people who do that work and live in the West that things are only going to get worse.”
Quick hits
Thousands protest against border wall through Texas parks
The Guardian | KUT | KVUE | USA Today
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Quote of the day
Giving only seven days for communities to respond, with no public meetings planned, is a slap in the face to the people who have called this place home long before there ever was a United States government.”
—New Mexico Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard, High Country News
Picture This
Oh Deer! 🦌
This is a gentle reminder to please leave wildlife alone. It’s not uncommon for deer (and other animals) to leave their young alone while mom forages for food nearby. Once the fawn has grown in size and strength, it will begin to follow its mother.
Thanks for fawn-derstanding. They’re very deer to us.
Photo by Pete Bizjak / @upperdelawarenps
Featured image: entrance sign at Big Bend National Park. Source: @bigbendnps