U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) this week quietly removed two stretches of planned border walls from its map of "Smart Wall" projects in the Big Bend region of West Texas, including one such project slated to run through Big Bend National Park.
CBP did not publicly announce the change and did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Earlier this week, the online map showed multiple "primary border wall system" projects planned for the region, including projects that would run through Big Bend National Park and along the southern border in Terrell County.
By late Thursday, the map had been changed to show "detection technology" projects planned in the national park and areas further east. The move amounts to a reversal back to CBP's original plans; that stretch of the border had been slated for only technology upgrades in the fall, before border wall projects were added in mid-February.
The map has continued to change without notice in recent weeks. It's not clear whether the most recent change is final. Local officials and residents have in recent weeks reported being contacted by private construction firms known to have worked on border wall construction in the past.
Elsewhere in the Big Bend — in Presidio, Jeff Davis and Hudspeth counties — border wall plans appear to still be moving forward for a 175-mile stretch beginning at Ft. Quitman, south of Sierra Blanca, and ending at Colorado Canyon in Big Bend Ranch State Park.
Landowners in those counties have received right of entry letters from CBP in recent weeks.
The documents, obtained by Marfa Public Radio, describe the plan as a "30-foot-high barrier made of six-inch-squared diameter steel bollards," and state that other parts of the project include drainage gates, fiber optic and power cables, lighting poles, surveillance cameras, staging areas, utility shelters, water use and "up to 12-foot wide maintenance roads and up to 24-foot wide patrol roads."
The documents go on to advise landowners in the path of the wall to either cooperate with CBP or face eminent domain proceedings initiated by the Department of Justice.
No Big Bend Wall, a newly-formed opposition group, said in a Friday press release that while community outcry seems to be having an effect on border wall plans, advocates are urging diligence moving forward considering the lack of information from CBP.
"While this shift from potential 'physical wall' to 'detection technology' is a signal that the public pressure is working, lack of transparency means we don't know if this is a real policy shift or a tactical one designed to lower our guard," the group said.
Friends of Big Bend Ranch State Park, a non-profit group that supports the 300,000-acre park, issued a statement this week arguing that a steel wall will have negative long-term environmental and economic impacts to the region.
"The Big Bend region contributes to the greater good of Texas not only through tourism revenue but also through ecosystem services that benefit the state as a whole, including biodiversity conservation, watershed protection, carbon storage, and preservation of open lands," the group said.
Local governments have started formally opposing a physical wall in the Big Bend region. This week, Alpine City Council and the Presidio Municipal Development District unanimously passed resolutions against the border wall; Brewster County Commissioners, Marfa City Council and a coalition of border-area sheriffs are set to discuss similar measures next week.
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