“We remain concerned and vigilant and would like to see a clear public announcement from CBP of their intent and a commitment that it won’t change again, before we will assume this is over.” - Bob Krumenaker, former Big Bend National Park superintendent
UPDATE: This article was updated with a clarification that Big Bend Ranch State Park could still get partially bisected by a border wall.
As I wrote about just a few days ago, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), which falls under the Department of Homeland Security, updated its “Smart Wall Map” last month to show plans to construct a border wall along the Rio Grande in Big Bend National Park.
To do that, then-Homeland Security Kristi Noem decided it was a great idea to waive no fewer than 28 environmental, conservation, and preservation laws.
Those laws included the National Environmental Policy Act, Endangered Species Act, Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, Migratory Bird Treaty Act, Eagle Protection Act, Antiquities Act, National Trails System Act, Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, Farmland Protection Policy Act, Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, Safe Drinking Water Act, and more than a dozen other federal laws.
It was an outrageous move to plan building a multi-billion-dollar wall in an area that sees incredibly small numbers of illegal border crossings compared with the rest of the southern border.
In addition to being absolutely unnecessary, unwanted, and a gigantic waste of taxpayer money, a steel bollard wall through Big Bend National Park would destroy not only a main part of the park and its incredible biodiversity, but also the local economy and businesses that depend on it.
“The cost of building the wall relative to the benefit it will create in lowering numbers is just out of proportion,” said Bob Krumenaker, former Big Bend National Park superintendent, on the National Parks Traveler podcast last Sunday. “And to irrevocably change for the negative and arguably destroy the reasons why this national park was established just doesn’t make sense.”
Now, however, on the day that Kristi Noem got fired, her previous Department of Homeland Security appears to have changed its mind immediately.
The very map that just yesterday showed that a border wall between Big Bend National Park’s Rio Grande canyons was “Planned,” now shows “Detection Technology” only in the entire park.
Detection technology, a lot of which is already present in the park, includes surveillance towers, radar systems, drones, sensors, and cameras.
“What’s not well-known is there’s already considerable detection technology within the national park,” former superintendent Krumenaker said. “It’s probably not the latest technology, but there’s a network of cameras.”
CBP’s “Smart Wall Map” on Monday, March 2, 2026:
CBP’s “Smart Wall Map” on Thursday, March 5, 2026 (the day Homeland Secretary Kristi Noem was fired):
Whether this change was also due to the immediate backlash that rippled through the conservation community, initiated by local stakeholders, is unclear. But I’d like to think that they’re aware of it.
To me—more than anything else—it appears that someone at CBP has realized that their previous map wasn’t inline with former Secretary Noem’s order concerning the Big Bend Sector, which went into effect on February 17.
That order specified the “project area” where a wall would be built from “approximately GPS point 31.037623, −105.579877 and extending south and east to approximately GPS point 29.325866, −104.046466.”
Those eastern coordinates fall almost exactly at the same point where the green line turns into an orange line on the map below. Noem’s order did not apply to Big Bend National Park in the first place.
This seems to be nothing more than the bureaucratic correction of a previous error. This change didn’t happen because Homeland Security suddenly cares about public lands, waters, and wildlife. Nor did it occur because they began listening to local stakeholders.
The CBP still plans to build a border wall through the adjacent Big Bend Ranch State Park, which is an equally large problem. A wall there would also permanently affect the identity of the regio—let alone actual livelihoods.
CBP still plans on constructing a border wall through the western part of Big Bend Ranch State Park, as shown on this screenshot taken on March 5, 2026:
How You Can Help
With all this flip-flopping going on, it’s impossible to predict whether they’ll “flip” back to border wall plans through the national park. It’s crucial to remain vigilant, informed, and continue to push back.
“The map still shows a wall in much of Big Bend Ranch State Park, which is just as destructive a proposal as in the national park,” Krumenaker told National Parks Traveler. “We remain concerned and vigilant and would like to see a clear public announcement from CBP of their intent and a commitment that it won’t change again, before we will assume this is over.”
If you care about the greater Big Bend area in general, please keep the pressure on. Keep supporting the local organization who are pushing back against this unnecessary and unwanted wall:
Another meaningful way to oppose the Big Bend border wall is adding your signature to this rapidly growing petition.
If you live in Texas yourself, contacting your Senators and Representative is imperative. That includes both national and state politicians, even Governor Greg Abbott himself:
Anyone who cares about this should contact their own Senators, too. New Homeland Security Secretary nominee Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) will need to get confirmed by the Senate within weeks. He’ll have a lot of questions to answer, but one of those should be how he plans on managing the border in the Big Bend Sector.
Without clear guarantees that there won’t be an actual steel bollard wall through Big Bend, he should not get confirmed.
Lastly, help spread the word. Share this article. Tell your friends, family, and neighbors about it. Awareness is powerful and may influence people’s voting behavior in the future.
Below are some other current and upcoming public lands-related issues you might want to get involved in, learn more about, or prepare for.
Thanks for reading!
See you on our public lands and waters,
Bram
Top photo: NPS / HYoung
They can't even execute their own missions or policies correctly! XD Total incompetency everywhere!