28 Environmental Laws Suspended to Build a “Smart Wall” in Big Bend National Park
By Sky Chatuchinda, Communications Manager for Lakota People Law Project.
On World Wildlife Day, the Department of Homeland Security waived 28 environmental protections to fast track a “Smart Wall” through Big Bend National Park. This article examines what that decision means for wildlife, sacred land, and Indigenous sovereignty.
On World Wildlife Day, a day meant to celebrate biodiversity and protect fragile ecosystems, federal plans threaten one of the most ecologically intact regions in the United States.
The Trump administration has published updated plans showing a proposed “Smart Wall” cutting through Big Bend National Park, extending along 175 miles of the Rio Grande.
According to federal documents reported by Outside, the Department of Homeland Security has waived 28 environmental and cultural protection laws to fast track construction inside one of the most ecologically intact regions of the United States.
According to federal documents reported by Outside, the Department of Homeland Security has waived 28 environmental and cultural protection laws to fast track construction inside one of the most ecologically intact regions of the United States.
A Wall Through One of America’s Wildest Landscapes
Big Bend is often described as one of the last truly wild places in Texas.Black bears, desert bighorn sheep, elk, quail, and countless desert species depend on free movement across this terrain. The Rio Grande is not just a boundary. It is a living ecosystem.
Yet federal notice in the Federal Register confirms that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem waived laws including the Endangered Species Act and the National Historic Preservation Act in order to expedite “physical barriers and roads.”
Environmental review has been suspended.
Cultural review has been suspended.
Construction is being accelerated.
A “Smart Wall” in One of the Lowest Crossing Sectors
The administration describes the project as a “Smart Wall,” incorporating cameras, lighting, and surveillance technology.
But the geography raises serious questions.
The U.S. Border Patrol Big Bend Sector covers nearly a quarter of the Southwest border yet reports some of the lowest migrant encounters. According to USA Today, only 151 migrants were apprehended in January. Even during peak migration years, numbers in Big Bend remained comparatively small due to rugged terrain and steep canyon systems.
What This Means for Indigenous Peoples
For Indigenous communities, this pattern is familiar.
Borders drawn without consent.
Sacred landscapes treated as vacant.
Federal authority overriding local voices.
Big Bend exists within a long history of Indigenous presence across the Rio Grande region. Walls do not simply interrupt migration routes. They interrupt ecological relationships and ancestral memory.
When environmental and historic preservation laws are waived, the precedent extends far beyond one national park. It signals that ecological protection and cultural respect can be set aside in the name of militarization.
For Indigenous nations, sovereignty means relationship to land, responsibility to future generations, and respect for natural systems. A wall through a national park without meaningful dialogue reflects the opposite.
Statement from Lakota People Law Project
During this critical juncture, we reaffirm our commitment to a respectful relationship of reciprocity with the other divine beings of creation who call Mother Earth home and who hold predecessor sovereign rights to their homelands, ecosystems, rivers, creeks, streams, and sacred places they hold near and dear to their being in their God given pursuit of life. These relatives, whom the Western canon calls “wildlife,” must always have a homeland. We reaffirm our commitment to ensuring that this remains true now and forever. This is our duty as two legged beings pursuant to Indigenous cosmology and mythos.
Director and Lead Counsel Chase Iron Eyes.