We need your help to ensure that efforts to secure our Southern border do not cause significant harm in the Big Bend region of the Rio Grande in Texas. On the heels of the passage of the One, Big, Beautiful Bill last year, the administration has been carrying out extensive border wall construction in southwest Texas that has bypassed 28 federal regulations and environmental laws and has ignored public input, despite bipartisan opposition from local sheriffs, judges, and governments . The Big Bend region is an American treasure, including renowned boating destinations like Santa Elena Canyon and Boquillas Canyon. You can speak up for the Rio Grande and Big Bend using our easy-action form to send letters to the administration and to your elected officials. You can also take action by signing this No Big Bend Wall petition.
In April, American Whitewater spent a few days on the Rio Chama with Far Flung Adventures for our annual board and staff meeting. When we weren’t talking about official business, we were sharing river stories and the latest on river stewardship issues across the country. Top of mind for our river guides, many of whom spend winters in Terlingua, TX guiding in Big Bend, were the concerning border wall activities in and around the Big Bend region. We were grateful to learn from local experts about what is happening on the ground and how communities and river users have already been directly affected. This is true to our philosophy at American Whitewater that the most effective river advocates are those that are intimately connected to the rivers themselves, and local members and partners are our best resource, especially in places where we don’t have full-time staff.
What we learned was deeply unsettling. While local river users and communities have brought national attention to this issue, border wall planning and construction have continued on the ground with a lack of transparency. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency hosted an interactive map that showed where the agency was planning a 30-foot steel border wall versus where remote technology would be used along the expansive Texas-Mexico border. That is, until the agency recently pulled the map entirely from the website, leaving concerned river advocates in the dark. Locals on the ground, however, don’t need a map to see what is coming.
While specific border wall plans are still largely unknown, local river users have seen construction camps setting up, road construction already happening, and miles of hazardous razor wire installed upstream of Big Bend State Park. Border wall activities are already posing serious threats to boaters, public safety, wildlife, local communities, and the broader economy.
- Construction and border materials, including the hazardous razor wire already installed and physical border materials in the floodplain, pose serious safety risks to boaters floating the Rio Grande. The river regularly experiences monsoonal floods, meaning it is certain that hazardous materials will eventually wash downstream. This will be a nightmare for river users.
- The hazards and active construction in the area will have damaging effects on the local economy built around river outfitters and self-guided trips which has blossomed into a major economic driver for the Big Bend region.
- Barriers at this scale would cut off migratory corridors for critical wildlife and disrupt local habitat for species throughout the Big Bend region, threatening the national treasure that Big Bend has become not just for Texas but for all Americans.
The consequences of a border wall at this scale are far reaching and unacceptable to local communities and the American people. We ask U.S. Customs and Border Patrol for increased transparency and reconsideration of the proposed border wall plans in the Big Bend region, and we ask that elected officials respond to requests from their constituents to hold the administration accountable.
There are many ways to engage and help ensure this issue continues to receive loud, national attention. Raising your voice in defense of Big Bend and the Rio Grande is more critical now more than ever.
Here is how you can best engage:
- Sign the petition at https://nobigbendwall.org/sign-the-petition/
- Write a letter to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection using our easy-action form. American Whitewater will collect all the letters and deliver them directly to the agency.
- Use the same easy-action form to write a letter to your elected officials. If you live in Texas, your letters will be sent to both local and federal officials.
To learn more about this issue:
- Watch The River and the Wall Documentary
- Listen to the River Radius Podcast, “Big Bend, the Rio Grande & a Border Wall”
- Read the New York Times article, “A Border Wall Plan Unites Republicans and Democrats in Texas: ‘This Is Insane’”
- Follow @nobigbendwall on Instagram
American Whitewater is proud to partner with the American Canoe Association on this campaign and we credit the ACA for helping collect on the ground information from locals and boaters who are already experiencing direct impacts from border wall construction.
*Photos by Thomas O’Keefe
