Sierra Club is reporting that border wall construction in West Texas is destroying irreplaceable archaeological sites and cultural heritage in the Big Bend region. The organization said the federal government recently announced a pause on border wall construction for further evaluation and consultation, which it views as a sign that advocacy efforts are working.
Sierra magazine, cited by the Sierra Club, detailed that locals in West Texas are nearly unanimous in their belief that the Trump administration's border wall plans will irreparably change the Big Bend region. Local sheriffs have expressed concerns about economic impacts, conservationists about ecological tolls, and property owners about land seizures. The magazine noted that contractors recently arrived in Big Bend National Park to begin bulldozing roads and leveling mountains for various types of barriers.
The Sierra Club highlighted that the Trump administration waived federal laws, including the Antiquities Act of 1906, the National Historic Preservation Act, and the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, which normally protect historical sites. Holly Houghton, tribal historic preservation officer for the Mescalero Apache Tribe, a federally recognized tribe whose ancestral land includes Big Bend, said no state or federal agencies, including the national park, contacted the tribe for cultural resource surveys or archaeological reports. Houghton expressed concern that bulldozers might encounter human remains without trained monitors, stating that established relationships of trust and collaboration are being eroded.