“There’s no logic. It looks like they’re gonna do all sorts of things, which are almost the most destructive things that they can do for virtually no purpose. There is no indication that [Customs and Border Protection] are listening. It is incredibly disheartening to see the federal government that I worked for for 41 years treat its citizens this way.” - Former Big Bend National Park Superintendent Bob Krumenaker in an interview with Marfa Public Radio (August 3, 2026)
For months, the Trump administration’s border wall plans for Big Bend National Park existed mostly as contradictory maps, opaque contracts, and shifting (re)assurances.
As I’ve written about extensively throughout this year, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) alternately described walls, vehicle barriers, surveillance equipment, and/or paved patrol roads, while repeatedly declining to explain exactly what would be built—or where, or when.
Now, however, the heavy equipment has actually arrived.
On Tuesday, August 4, construction machinery from Southwest Valley Constructors had moved into Big Bend National Park. Contractors—some of whom wore face-covering masks as if they were ICE agents—were photographed grading the road to Glenn Springs. A bulldozer was seen near Cottonwood Campground.
Survey crews have also been observed along roads near the Rio Grande in recent weeks, while construction staging areas have appeared just north of the national park, according to the Big Bend Sentinel and Marfa Public Radio, two local outlets who’ve been covering the Big Bend border wall on an almost daily basis.
The sudden activity marks a dangerous transition. What was once a confusing federal proposal is now starting to take a destructive physical form—and it’s doing so before the public, local businesses, or even members of Congress have received any detailed construction plans whatsoever.
Southwest Valley Constructors, a subsidiary of Kiewit Corporation, received a $1.7 billion contract in May for the “Big Bend 4” project. It was the largest border wall contract in U.S. history.
Although the contract webpage did specifically mention “border wall” (and still does), CBP later said the project would not include a continuous 30-foot steel wall inside the national park. Instead, as I wrote in this piece, the agency described approximately 17 miles of vehicle barriers and roughly 205 miles of “system attributes,” including patrol roads, cameras, sensors, and other technology.
That language remains alarmingly vague. It doesn’t reveal where roads will be widened or constructed, which riverside destinations could become inaccessible, whether permanent lighting will be installed, or how much excavation and blasting may occur.
Except for CBP and Southwest Valley, literally no one knows.
According to Big Bend National Park advocates such as former superintendent Bob Krumenaker, the greatest immediate concern is Mariscal Mountain, where CBP maps appear to show a 24-foot-wide patrol road crossing exceptionally rugged terrain in what “is pretty much the most remote area in Big Bend National Park,” Krumenaker said in an interview with Marfa Public Radio.
According to Krumenaker, who now chairs Keep Big Bend Wild, building a road over Mariscal Mountain without using explosives would be “physically impossible.”
In other words, the proposed route would cause enormous destruction for almost no identifiable security benefit.
“There’s no logic. It looks like they’re gonna do all sorts of things, which are almost the most destructive things that they can do for virtually no purpose,” Krumenaker told Marfa Public Radio. “There is no indication that they are listening. It is incredibly disheartening to see the federal government that I worked for for 41 years treat its citizens this way.”
I’ll repeat something I’ve said more times than I can count: it is impossible to justify the Big Bend National Park border barrier project’s scale by pointing to border traffic.
In a letter sent on Tuesday, August 4, more than 140 outfitters and business owners have appealed to Governor Greg Abbott and Senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz.
They warn that planned barriers cross or obstruct backcountry campgrounds and river-access points. Big Bend visitation generates an estimated $63.7 million in economic output annually for nearby businesses, and roughly one-quarter of that activity is connected to river trips and camping.
According to figures cited in their letter, illegal crossings inside Big Bend National Park represent less than 0.05 percent of activity along the entire southern border.
The mountains, canyons, desert, and river already form one of the most formidable natural barriers in North America, which is an argument that even all five Texas border sheriffs have used against a border barrier in Big Bend.
Additionally, just last week, twelve House Democrats, led by Texas Representative Lloyd Doggett and House Natural Resources Committee ranking member Jared Huffman, asked the administration to pause the work as well.
Their July 31 letter—addressed to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, CBP Commissioner Rodney S. Scott, and W.C. “Chad” McIntosh, Commissioner of the International Boundary and Water Commission, United States Section—seeks engineering designs, excavation estimates, controlled-blasting provisions, vibration-monitoring plans, and information about where thousands of tons of displaced rock would be deposited.
“The potential destruction from road construction over the rugged terrain of Mariscal Mountain is extreme,” Doggett warned. “Tons of rock blasted away could end up impacting Mariscal Canyon, the Rio Grande, and Mexico.”
That last point raises a potential international conflict the administration cannot simply waive away.
Homeland Security has suspended dozens of environmental and historic-preservation laws for the project, eliminating the normal public review and scientific analysis required before construction in a national park. However, that authority does not erase U.S. obligations under U.S.-Mexico treaties governing the Rio Grande. Excavated rock, altered drainage, or construction debris reaching the river could affect water flow and Mexican territory.
In the face of all of these genuine and serious concerns, former river ranger Michael Ryan summarized the grim reality for local observers, residents, and businessowners, many of whom rely on the national park and the river for their livelihoods.
“Now that they’re in the park,” he told the Big Bend Sentinel, “all we can really do is document all of the damage.”
On Monday, August 3, Keep Big Bend Wild, anticipating the arrival of construction equipment in the national park, posted a call for help on their Instagram page.
“If you are in Big Bend National Park and you see ANY activity that appears to be groundbreaking, clearing, or anything else by border construction contractors, PLEASE get the location (GPS coordinates if possible), photos, date/time, company logos on trucks, etc. and a description on what they are doing,” they wrote, warning observers to “not contact or interfere with them, just record and send the information ASAP to info@keepbigbendwild.org.”
“We need this information to help us prevent senseless damage to Big Bend National Park natural and cultural resources.”
How You Can Help Save Big Bend National Park
If you care about Big Bend National Park, the Rio Grande, and the greater Big Bend area—all of which are at risk here—please keep the pressure on. Keep supporting the local organizations who are pushing back against this unpopular wall and other destructive infrastructure:
Follow them on social media and share their posts. Check out their advocacy resources. Support them with a donation if you can.
If you live in Texas yourself, contact your Senators and Representative. That includes both national and state politicians, even Governor Greg Abbott himself:
You can also use this super-easy 5calls.org script.
Another meaningful way to push back against the Big Bend border infrastructure, regardless of whether you live in Texas or elsewhere in the country, is adding your signature to the Big Bend petition, which, at the time of writing, has amassed almost 155,000 signatures.
Lastly, help spread the word. Share this article. Tell your friends, family, and neighbors about it. Post about protecting the Big Bend area’s unique character on social media.
Thanks for helping to protect our public lands and waters!
See you out there,
Bram
Image 1: screenshot from an Instagram video by local photographer Natalie Newman
Image 2: NPS
This is so sad what a pathetic country we’ve become
No!!! DO NOT DESTROY THE NATURAL WORLD!!!