Opponents of a planned border wall through some of the Big Bend region and other barriers through Big Bend National Park will take their message to a public meeting of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission in Austin on Wednesday.
At an event in front of TPWD Headquarters before the 2 p.m. hearing, protesters said the commission has an obligation under state law to deny access to work crews and stop construction inside Big Bend Ranch and other state parks in Far West Texas.
"They have the power," said Hillary Pierce, a spokesperson for No Big Bend Wall. "Chapter 26 is a code within the Texas state constitution that essentially mandates that the commission protects the parks from outside threats."
The hearing comes just two days after Rodney Scott, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection commissioner, announced a pause in border barrier construction within the national park while he visits to "do a personal evaluation" and "talk to some stakeholders."
The prospect of a border barrier through the scenic and remote Big Bend region has sparked opposition from Democratic and Republican state leaders, and from West Texas conservationists, ranchers and some in law enforcement officials.
They say the project is unneeded in a part of the state that sees relatively few illegal border crossings and will damage the region's environment, economy and natural beauty.
Patrick Zuberbueler, whose family has owned and operated ranches in Val Verde County since the 1800s, said he came to the hearing to raise awareness of the practical problems a border barrier would create.
"The way the vehicle barrier system looks at this point, it could close off points of the ranch that's close enough to the Rio Grande that it makes it not workable for livestock purposes," he said.
Zuberbueler, a lifelong Republican, said he also worries about how the project will threaten archeological sites in Seminole Canyon State Park, land which once belonged to his family's ranch.
"For whatever it's worth, I sent President Trump an email and invited him to come visit," he said. "We're the government, they work for us, and for me to play possum would be tragic."
The pause in construction in Big Bend National Park came after photos of bulldozer activity in the national park went public late last week.
On Monday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott took credit for the break in activity in the park, saying that Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin had told him there would be "no construction of any type of barrier at Big Bend National Park."
Organizers of Wednesday's protest say the pause in construction is good news, but it does not change their message.
"That's only a pause in the national park as I understand it," said Piece. "We are advocating for no border infrastructure in the entire region."
According to an online mission statement, TPWD "is responsible for protecting, interpreting and managing cultural and natural resources of statewide significance."
Protesters argue the commission has failed in that duty by allowing crews access to state land for the construction of border barriers.
"If an energy company, a mining operation, or a private developer sought to construct permanent infrastructure of this kind inside any TPWD-managed park, the agency would apply every procedural and legal tool at its disposal," reads a petition the group No Big Bend Wall plans to deliver. "A federal agency seeking access to state park land should be subject to the same standards as any other applicant."
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