This article first appeared on The Texas Tribune
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission’s annual public hearing kicked off Wednesday with an unusually festive scene outside the agency’s Austin offices: a tailgate party where hundreds of people from around the state cooked out, shared cold drinks and talked about the reason they’d come — the potential construction of border barriers through state park property in far West Texas.
Cardboard cut-outs of desert animals with slogans like “Don’t fence us in” and “No wall, no wire, no way” lined the walkway leading to TPWD headquarters, mirroring chants from the crowd –– all hoping that the agency that oversees the state park system would finally respond to months of public outcry about the possibility of large-scale federal border wall construction on public land.
Videos of bulldozers tearing into Big Bend National Park have sparked headlines around the world, to the point that Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott personally paused construction until he could conduct an on-the-ground visit to the region.
But the federal government’s plans in neighboring Big Bend Ranch State Park and Black Gap Wildlife Management Area, both Texas Parks and Wildlife properties, are still up in the air. Customs and Border Protection has released little information to the public about its plans for border barrier construction on state land beyond an online map that has changed numerous times without warning.
Despite being one of the most pressing issues facing the agency, border barriers were not included in the agenda for the board’s quarterly meeting. The commission only holds one forum for in-person public comment per year, so organizers seized on the opportunity to speak to commissioners directly.
Mike Davidson, a river guide on the Rio Grande since 1977, said that in all of his years in the backcountry in Big Bend, he’d never once felt threatened by crime on the border. “We don’t see people trying to cross the river while we’re paddling,” he said.
David Long, a longtime TPWD employee and former superintendent of the Barton Warnock Center at Big Bend Ranch State Park, talked about the joys of teaching his grandsons how to safely navigate the river and the harsh Chihuahuan Desert backcountry.
“What is the legacy that we want to leave our future generations?” he asked the crowd. “Memories of how we coexist with nature and protect it –– or a scarred landscape?”
Ninety-nine people signed up to speak at Wednesday’s public hearing and the vast majority wanted to talk about border barriers, including a large contingency from the Big Bend region.
Hillary Pierce, an organizer for No Big Bend Wall, a group dedicated to stopping the construction of border barriers in Customs and Border Protection’s largest and least busy sector, said the pre-meeting tailgate was an attempt to make the gathering feel more like a celebration of Texas parks than a tense confrontation between the public and the commission.
“A lot of people don’t realize that the commission consists of people who are appointed directly by Gov. Abbott himself,” she explained. “In many cases, they are some of his biggest supporters, some of his biggest donors, and have a direct line to him. We’re hoping that they’ll advocate for us and amplify our voices in his ear.”
Former Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson, who has been trying to rally fellow Republicans to the cause, said opposing federal barriers in far West Texas has become a bipartisan cause. “I have yet to encounter anybody in the Big Bend area who does not oppose a wall,” he said
Jake Walker, a board member of the Texas chapter of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, said that federal border projects could affect 20% of all publicly available hunting land in the state. “Any changes in the landscape could have an impact on our access to that wildlife,” he said.
While most of the commenters were concerned with TPWD holdings in Presidio and Brewster Counties, they are not the only properties that could be affected by the barrier project. Seminole Canyon State Park — home to the Lower Pecos style of rock art –– preserves a storytelling and design tradition thousands of years old.
There are 80 recorded archeological sites in the park spanning 10,000 years of human history, earning it a place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Amanda Castañeda, archeology director at Shumla, a nonprofit aimed at preserving the Lower Pecos rock art tradition, explained that CBP’s current plan would effectively cut the park in half with a six-foot fence that would cut off hiking trails and interpretive sites.
“This park contains a deep and varied history that Texans are proud of,” Castañeda said.
Though the TPWD commission is not obligated to respond to public comments, Chair Paul Foster did address the volume of comments related to border barriers.
“I think we agree with most of you, and are working with the governor’s office and the federal government,” he said. “Our goal is to minimize damage to the ecosystem and the natural beauty of not only the parks, but the whole area.”
Disclosure: Paul L. Foster has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in The Texas Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.
