Editor's note: This updates with response from the National Parks Conservation Association.
Border protection infrastructure that could include a wall is coming to areas of Big Bend National Park that share a boundary with Mexico along the Rio Grande River, the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol confirmed Wednesday.
The plan is part of a larger project in the greater Big Bend region where both the national park and a state park are located in Southwest Texas.
"The U.S. Border Patrol is constructing a ‘Smart Wall,’ which integrates a steel bollard barrier or waterborne barrier with supporting infrastructure, including roads, advanced detection technology, cameras, and lighting," a CBP spokesperson told the Traveler via email.
"This scope includes areas within Big Bend Ranch State Park and Big Bend National Park. Depending on terrain and operational requirements, each area may receive any combination of barrier installation, technology deployment, and road improvements."
Contracts for the projects are expected to be awarded in the coming weeks and months, the spokesperson said.
Park advocates say border patrol presence in the park as well as the harsh desert and mountainous terrain already make it difficult to cross into the United States through the park. There are also environmental concerns.
“Building a border wall through Big Bend National Park would choke off vital wildlife migration routes, intensify flooding risks, and inflict irreparable damage to one of our country’s most iconic national parks," National Parks Conservation Association Texas Regional Director Cary Dupuy said in a statement.
A recently updated map also confirms the plan. The map from CBP tracks planned or completed border wall construction. A time stamp on the map website shows it was last updated on Feb. 11, and color-coded markings indicate a wall or other protective measures planned to stretch most of Big Bend National Park's 118-mile border between Texas and Mexico.
A check of archived versions of the page on Wednesday morning did not show the markings there on Feb. 10.
Meanwhile, the Department of Homeland Security intends to expedite wall construction by waiving environmental reviews and other requirements in the Big Bend area. The waiver, signed by DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, was published Tuesday and lists 28 laws that DHS could circumvent to build the wall including the Endangered Species Act, the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, and the National Historic Preservation Act.
Similar waivers were previously granted for several other border areas.
National Park Service Headquarters also did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday morning.
Don Corrick, spokesperson for Big Bend National Park, told Inside Climate News on Friday that park officials "have no knowledge of any plans for a border wall.”
Big Bend National Park covers more than 1,200 square miles in Southwest Texas and is one of the largest sites in the National Park Service system. It's separated from Mexico by the Rio Grande River.
The park logged more than 561,000 visits in 2024, according to the latest numbers from the Park Service.
"These visitors come to explore and enjoy the rugged beauty of the park from Santa Elena Canyon to uninterrupted vistas of the Chihuahuan desert," Dupuy said. "Visitors have a significant economic impact to the local communities, totaling more than $60 million in spending in 2024."
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