Big Bend Under Threat: Why America Must Reject Another Billion Dollar Wall

Posted by Gary Westernoff at Sunday, August 16, 2026 Afforability, Costing & Contracting, Health & Safety, Others 0 Comments 3

I warned about this years ago back in March 2017 when the idea of a massive border wall was still treated as political theater. But the warning went unheeded. Today, the threat is no longer hypothetical. Big Bend, one of America’s most iconic landscapes, is being carved up in the name of “security,” and the cost financial, environmental, and human is staggering.

Although I have never been to Big Bend National Park, I know what true majesty feels like. In college, I spent much of my time in Yosemite National Park, most of it on the granite walls climbing routes that demanded everything I had. On one climb, we made a first ascent that took two full days on the rock, driving in more than 160 pitons as we worked our way upward inch by inch. The summit felt like touching the sky. And after all that effort, it took barely an hour to rappel back to the valley floor. Those experiences taught me how sacred wild places are, how humbling and breathtaking they can be when seen from their highest points. They also taught me how fragile they are and how easily they can be scarred by machinery, concrete, and short‑sighted decisions.

I believe in national security. I believe in protecting our borders, enforcing our laws, and ensuring America remains strong and sovereign. But I also believe in wisdom over waste. And nothing about the new Big Bend wall reflects wisdom.

Big Bend: A Wall in the Worst Possible Place

Big Bend National Park is not just remote it is geologically extreme, ecologically fragile, and culturally sacred. It is one of the last truly wild places in the United States.

Yet construction has already begun.

What’s happening right now:

• Heavy machinery is clearing land inside Big Bend National Park.
• Contractors are building vehicle barriers, patrol roads, drainage structures, and surveillance towers.
• CBP insists they are not building a 30‑foot steel wall inside the park — but they are building physical barriers that require blasting, grading, and permanent disruption.

What’s coming next:

• In Big Bend Ranch State Park, just west of the national park, two miles of 30‑foot steel wall segments are planned.
• Construction is expected to begin this fall.
• A $1.7 billion federal contract the largest ever awarded for Texas border construction — explicitly lists Big Bend as a primary project zone.

This region is no longer untouched. The wall is here.

Why Big Bend Is the Worst Possible Location

The terrain alone makes the project irrational:

• Sheer cliffs make construction dangerous and expensive.
• Flash‑flood zones make concrete barriers unstable.
• Wildlife corridors used by mountain lions, black bears, migratory birds will be severed.
• Archaeological sites risk destruction.
• Erosion will require endless maintenance.

This isn’t security. It’s vandalism paid for by taxpayers.

History Has Already Told Us Walls Don’t Work

Civilizations have tried walls for thousands of years. The results are consistent:

Walls fail not because they’re too short or too weak.  They fail because human movement is driven by forces stronger than stone: economics, conflict, climate, opportunity, and hope.

If the Great Wall couldn’t stop the Mongols, and the Berlin Wall couldn’t stop freedom, what exactly do we think a wall in Big Bend will stop?

The Real Cost: A Wall That Drains Medicare

The latest spending package allocates $46.5 billion for border wall construction. But because the bill adds trillions to the deficit, federal PAYGO rules automatically trigger $500 billion in Medicare cuts over eight years.

So, while we pour billions into a wall that history says won’t work, we slash healthcare for:

• 68 million Americans
• Seniors
• Veterans
• People with disabilities

This is not national security. It’s national self‑harm.

The Human Impact: Seniors on the Brink

These cuts hit real people, many living on less than $25,000 a year.

• 1.4 million low-income seniors lose Medicare Savings Programs
• Monthly Medicare costs rise by at least $185 in 2025
• Some seniors lose $6,200 per year in prescription assistance
• Cuts to long-term care push vulnerable seniors toward homelessness

We’re not protecting America by building a wall. We’re destabilizing the very people who built this country.

What $46.5 Billion Could Do Instead:

With the same money, we could:

• Cover Medicare premiums for 1 million low-income seniors for a decade
• Build 92,000 units of affordable housing for homeless veterans
• Hire 575,000 VA claims processors to eliminate backlogs
• Modernize every port of entry with smart technology

Real security comes from functioning systems, not concrete monuments.

Environmental and Cultural Damage: Irreversible

Big Bend is home to:

• Endangered species
• Ancient Indigenous sites
• Rare desert ecosystems
• International Dark Sky preserves
• The Rio Grande, a living river, not a construction zone

A wall here doesn’t just block people. It blocks wildlife, water flow, migration routes, and centuries of cultural heritage.

Once destroyed, these cannot be rebuilt.

Timeline of Big Bend Wall Construction

2024–2025: Funding allocated

May 2026: $1.7B contract awarded for Big Bend region

August 2026: Construction begins inside Big Bend National Park

Fall 2026: Wall segments scheduled for Big Bend Ranch State Park

2027: Expansion of patrol roads and surveillance towers

2028: Full barrier network planned across the region

The clock is ticking.

Security Without Sacrifice

We can secure the border without sacrificing seniors, veterans, and the environment. Smart surveillance, modern ports of entry, binational cooperation, and economic investment work. Walls don’t.

A wall in Big Bend is not strategy. It’s symbolism. And symbolism shouldn’t cost $46.5 billion, especially when the price is paid by people who can’t afford to lose another dollar.

Walls crumble. Values endure.

It’s time to choose values.