an online map<\/a>\u00a0that has changed numerous times without warning.<\/p>\nDespite being one of the most pressing issues facing the agency, border barriers were not included in the agenda for the board\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
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\u2019d never once felt threatened by crime on the border. \u201cWe don\u2019t see people trying to cross the river while we\u2019re paddling,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
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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.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is the legacy that we want to leave our future generations?\u201d he asked the crowd. \u201cMemories of how we coexist with nature and protect it \u2013\u2013 or a scarred landscape?\u201d<\/p>\n
Ninety-nine people signed up to speak at Wednesday\u2019s public hearing and the vast majority wanted to talk about border barriers, including a large contingency from the Big Bend region.<\/p>\n
Hillary Pierce, an organizer for No Big Bend Wall, a group dedicated to stopping the construction of border barriers in Customs and Border Protection\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
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\u201cA lot of people don\u2019t realize that the commission consists of people who are appointed directly by Gov. Abbott himself,\u201d she explained. \u201cIn many cases, they are some of his biggest supporters, some of his biggest donors, and have a direct line to him. We\u2019re hoping that they\u2019ll advocate for us and amplify our voices in his ear.\u201d<\/p>\n
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. \u201cI have yet to encounter anybody in the Big Bend area who does not oppose a wall,\u201d he said<\/p>\n
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. \u201cAny changes in the landscape could have an impact on our access to that wildlife,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
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 \u2014 home to the Lower Pecos style of rock art \u2013\u2013 preserves a storytelling and design tradition thousands of years old.<\/p>\n
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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.<\/p>\n
Amanda Casta\u00f1eda, archeology director at Shumla, a nonprofit aimed at preserving the Lower Pecos rock art tradition, explained that CBP\u2019s current plan would effectively cut the park in half with a six-foot fence that would cut off hiking trails and interpretive sites.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis park contains a deep and varied history that Texans are proud of,\u201d Casta\u00f1eda said.<\/p>\n
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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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we agree with most of you, and are working with the governor\u2019s office and the federal government,\u201d he said. \u201cOur goal is to minimize damage to the ecosystem and the natural beauty of not only the parks, but the whole area.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dozens gather in opposition of border infrastructure projects in the Big Bend region before the Texas Parks and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":413149,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[27,29,28],"class_list":["post-413148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/413148","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=413148"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/413148\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/413149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=413148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=413148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=413148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}