Activists express disappointment, anger at collaboration
Presidio
The first confirmed case of a Presidio County landowner working with border wall contractors surfaced this week after more than 20 Fisher Sand & Gravel trailers were recently spotted in the Loma Paloma RV park owned by Presidio resident Terry Bishop. The sightings did not sit well with anti-border wall activists who have long considered Bishop a friend and who have called for no one to collaborate or do business with contractors.
Fisher Sand & Gravel has the $1.2 billion Department of Homeland Security grant for construction of the border wall from the state park up river to Candelaria, although it’s unclear what role the RV park renters are playing in the project.
Anti-wall activist and Redford landowner Charlie Angell was quick to call out Bishop for helping facilitate the wall construction, and he said he’s concerned other people may follow Bishop’s misguided lead. “People may say, ‘Well, f— it. If Terry can do it, I can do it,’” Angell said. “That’s just how it works. That’s human nature.” Angell noted that last year contractors came to him to lease his land on West Highway 170 for $10,000 a month—before the wall project was reported on in the fall. They contacted him again afterwards and he turned them down.
Bishop is one of the more prominent members of various communities in Presidio. He owns a farm east of town and land where he worked tirelessly to create a wetland for birds with treated wastewater. He also is a board member of the Presidio County Historical Commission, and his land holds a project he has been involved with for years—a historical marker commemorating “La Junta,” where the Conchos River and Rio Grande join. He previously served on the Presidio Municipal Development District and has been involved in numerous environmental and civic projects through the years.
Contacted by phone on Saturday, Bishop said his RV park has long played host to various construction crews working, for example, on River Road bridges and the levees around Presidio. He said he doesn’t see a difference between allowing that with his business and anything related to the border wall. “I’m not making that distinction. I’m not,” he said. “I’m also not saying that I support a wall. I don’t want it down here on my farm, but I’m gonna get it. I can’t do anything about it.”
Bishop has attended landowner meetings designed to help them navigate requests from the Customs and Border Protection and Army Corps of Engineers sending letters and arranging meetings to access their land for surveys and possible eventual leases, purchase, or if they don’t, a taking of their land with eminent domain.
It’s not certain what deal has been worked out with Fisher Sand & Gravel, but at rates posted on the Loma Paloma website, 20 trailers would be charged about $5,500 a month.
Angell also sent a fiery email to the members of the No Big Bend Wall coalition coordinators and board members of the Friends of the Ruidosa Church—a preservation group working to restore a historic adobe church on the border—asking them to reach out to Bishop and ask him to change his mind about collaborating with contractors. Bishop served on the board of the nonprofit Friends of the Ruidosa Church, but resigned on Sunday.
The Friends of the Church is a plaintiff in a lawsuit against wall construction launched by the Center for Biological Diversity last month. The Friends of the Ruidosa Church is concerned that vibrations from heavy machinery and trucks going through Ruidosa—or an outright collision with the church, which sits on a tight bend in the highway—could damage the church.
“As a non-profit who is suing the government to stop a wall, it is mind-blowing to me that Terry Bishop is still in good graces and affiliated with your organization,” Angell said in his Saturday email, before Bishop resigned.
Friends of the Ruidosa Church Board President Mike Green was surprised to hear about the RV rentals when reached by phone Saturday. “All I can say right now is that I’m very disappointed,” he said.
Angell’s email then took aim at the nonprofit No Big Bend Wall. “As a separate non-profit, whose mission is to stop the wall, pressuring Mr. Bishop to reverse his decision to rent seems to be an easy chore,” he wrote. “If your coalition and individual members take him to task, you stand a good chance of getting him to change. If nothing else, some effort should be expended on this. Otherwise, what is your purpose?”
Clara Bensen, who serves as a campaign coordinator with the No Big Bend Wall, said their coalition preferred to make an overall statement for all landowners. “We believe that every person has a role to play with holding the line and protecting our community,” Bensen said. “The only way we win is if we stand together.”
Angell added that he would call Bishop out in public if he sees him. “I’m looking forward to that moment, and that’ll be the last time I ever speak to him unless he changes his way,” he said. “So, if everybody else doesn’t have this attitude, they are failures as organizations and leaders. There should be no awe shucks about this. Terry sucks in thousands of dollars a month and is still trying to fit in with the community while he f— us over actively.”
