Target: Doug Burgum, Secretary of U.S. Department of the Interior
Goal: Do not bulldoze large portions of Big Bend National Park for unneeded and costly border wall construction.
In just a few weeks’ time, major parts of the Endangered Species Act have been rolled back in order to make room for mining and construction projects. The federal government has paid contractors to divest from planned clean energy projects like wind power and reinvest in dirty fossil fuels. And the president has made good on a blueprint for drastically shrinking federally protected lands by reducing the size of America’s national monuments by 86 million acres, including over 90 percent of previously protected land at the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and the Bears Ears National Monument. But the administration’s most recent environmental destruction has sparked arguably its most significant bipartisan backlash yet.
Bulldozers have begun making their presence felt within Texas’ Big Bend National Park. The 800,000-acre expanse is a biodiverse paradise, hosting thousands of plant species, over 100 mammal and reptile species, and 450 different species of birds. Part of the desert landscape also runs along the border between the United States and Mexico, which has put it in the crosshairs of an administration determined to make meager strides on a costly border wall. Long-time residents contest a physical barrier is not even needed in this rugged and harsh terrain that serves as a natural barrier and that represents a miniscule amount of border crossings annually. This intrusive project was made possible by the aforementioned waivers on existing endangered species and environmental protection laws gifted to these construction companies. If a mountain in the region is subjected to dynamite — as feared — in order to make way for a road, then the damage would be even more widespread and perhaps reach the Rio Grande River.
Sign the petition below to demand an end to this latest destructive endeavor.
PETITION LETTER:
Dear Secretary Burgum.
“Major permanent infrastructure, accompanied by lighting systems, access roads, and maintenance corridors would permanently alter one of the most remote and ecologically significant border landscapes in the United States. Border security is not a one-size-fits-all proposition. Strategies that may be appropriate in high-traffic urban sectors are not necessarily appropriate in geographically remote regions such as ours.”
The aforementioned statement concerning ongoing construction in Big Bend National Park did not come from political opponents or typical activists. Instead, it came from the collective concerns of five sheriffs who live along this border and who know first-hand their communities’ very real concerns. Republicans and Democrats alike have decried this project, and rural communities have united in protest.
Although the public may have been deprived of the opportunity to comment on this project before it began, please listen to them. Their irreplaceable landscape, their tourism prospects, and the fates of hundreds of diverse plants and animals are at stake. As Texas Senator John Cornyn noted, this rugged expanse provides its own deterrence and natural barrier. Do not damage the legacy of this national park for political theater. Protect Big Bend and all its inhabitants.
Sincerely,
[Your Name Here]
Photo Credit: Cookie Ballou
