Big Bend Fights Border Wall: Nature's Wall vs Man-Made

It's April 23rd, you're listening to El Paso News today, AI-powered local news.

Folks in Big Bend National Park down in Texas are pushing back hard against any border

wall plans.

Environmental groups and river guides say the area's steep canyons in the Rio Grande already

act as Mother Nature's own barrier, making a man-made, wall unnecessary and destructive.

This stretch spans 118 miles of wild river through desert and mountains, and locals on both

sides of the border worry it'll wreck.

Everything.

Earlier this week, at the Boquilla's Crossing, guides like Mike Davidson Row across the

river freely.

No bridges, no customs, just an informal spot set.

Up back in 2010, between Presidents Obama and Calderon.

Davidson crosses often for work, and loves keeping it low-key, away from heavy security

that scares off tourists.

Meanwhile, residents in Boquillas, Del Carmen, by hiking guide Daniel Martinez, fear a wall

would kill their tourism economy.

People there rely on American visitors for income, and with poverty high, they'd have

to pack up and leave.

Even a smart wall map from customs and border protection hinted at plans here before it

got pulled.

New lawsuits from the Center for Biological Diversity and others target the Department of

Homeland Security, claiming construction would blast.

With river corridors, block wild life like Mexican black bears from water, and trash

historic paleo-Indian sites plus fossils everywhere.

Big bin boasts 75 mammal species, 400 birds, and 1200 unique plants, all at risk amid

ongoing drought.

According to experts, even tech-like detection towers could scar the land with lights and

blasts.

This biodiverse gem deserves protection as his nature's wall, holding strong for generations

to come.