A large coalition will hold a rally on Saturday, April 4, to oppose the construction of a border wall through Big Bend National Park and along the Rio Grande Wild & Scenic River in Texas. The rally will take place on the South Steps of the Texas State Capitol.
In March, the federal government announced plans to construct 150+ miles of border wall, razor wire, and other development through the Greater Big Bend Region. On February 17 the Department of Homeland Security waived 28 environmental and cultural resource protection laws to fast-track construction and has since awarded construction contracts for much of the region.
The rally is being organized by Save Big Bend, a grassroots organization run by Texans who announced the event to host the local businesses, land owners, public land recreationists, county sheriffs, and elected officials rallying behind wider organizing efforts from No Big Bend Border Wall, No Al Muro, and numerous other organizations.
Recently, five sheriffs of the impacted counties along the Rio Grande wrote a letter in opposition to the wall, stating that it was unnecessary. “Based on decades of combined experience working this terrain, we believe that construction of a continuous physical border wall in the Big Bend region would not represent the most practical or strategic approach to border security in this area,” they wrote.
Critics of the wall insist that the region’s mountains, canyons, desert expanses, and the Rio Grande already create a formidable natural barrier and that a border wall is unnecessary given that the region has not seen high-volume crossings seen in urban corridors.
Over 500,000 people visit Big Bend National Park and 80,000 visitors paddle down stretches of the Rio Grande every year. There are countless archaeological sites along the river from Presidio to the Lower Pecos where humans have lived for over 13,000 years. Big Bend is the largest protected area in Texas, generating $55MM+ annually from tourism to one of the most scenic, remote, and intact places in the world.
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