The Trump administration will once again bypass federal environmental laws to speed up border security infrastructure projects in the Big Bend region, this time affecting more than 100 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border in and around Big Bend National Park and Big Bend Ranch State Park, according to reporting by Marfa Public Radio.
Marfa Public Radio reported Monday that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security issued a preliminary federal notice revising an earlier waiver to allow border barrier and infrastructure work to proceed without compliance with a broad range of environmental and cultural protection laws.
The waiver applies to a stretch of border running from near Closed Canyon Trail in Big Bend Ranch State Park through the entirety of Big Bend National Park and into southeastern Brewster County, according to GPS coordinates included in the federal notice.
In the filing, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said the administration is waiving environmental regulations “to ensure the expeditious construction of barriers and roads” along the southern border.
While U.S. Customs and Border Protection has said it does not plan to build a 30-foot steel border wall inside either Big Bend National Park or Big Bend Ranch State Park, the agency’s “Big Bend 4” proposal includes vehicle barriers, surveillance technology and patrol road upgrades in and near the parks, according to Marfa Public Radio. A CBP spokesperson confirmed the waiver is intended for the Big Bend 4 project.
The waiver comes days after six former superintendents of Big Bend National Park urged federal officials not to bypass environmental protections for projects in the park.
“This is devastating news, giving CBP unfettered authority to do anything they want within the national park,” former Big Bend National Park Superintendent Bob Krumenaker, now chair of the advocacy group Keep Big Bend Wild, told Marfa Public Radio.
Federal officials said the latest notice revises an earlier waiver issued in May after the administration said the original filing contained an incorrect description of the geographic area covered. Updated GPS coordinates now shift the affected section of border westward into the Big Bend park region.
Opponents of the project said they remain concerned about the construction of new patrol roads and surveillance infrastructure along the Rio Grande corridor, which they argue could damage sensitive ecosystems and alter the character of the national park.
“Their utter disregard for the will of the people, the taxpayers’ money, the actual data showing minimal numbers of border crossings inside the park, and the values that Texans and all Americans hold dear as represented by the National Parks leave us without sufficient words to express,” Krumenaker said in a statement quoted by Marfa Public Radio.
A Customs and Border Protection spokesperson told the outlet the agency is coordinating with the National Park Service, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and other agencies while planning continues.
“While there are priorities for new border wall and detection technology in [the Border Patrol’s] Big Bend Sector, the combination of barriers, roads, and technology (cameras, infrared illuminators, and other detection technology) in the areas adjacent to the Big Bend National Park and State Park are still in the planning stages, while CBP focuses on other higher priority locations,” the spokesperson said.
Environmental advocates condemned the move, with Laiken Jordahl of the Center for Biological Diversity calling the plans “an affront to the millions of Americans who treasure Big Bend,” according to Marfa Public Radio.
The latest waiver also comes as Customs and Border Protection prepares to begin construction within weeks on a separate 30-foot steel border wall through parts of Hudspeth, Jeff Davis and Presidio counties outside the national and state parks, according to previous reporting by Marfa Public Radio. Advocacy groups, including the Center for Biological Diversity, have already filed legal challenges over earlier regulatory waivers tied to those plans.
