On August 6, a date that’s been called ‘ a day of infamy ,’ construction began on Trump’s border wall through Big Bend National Park. Under a $1.7 billion federal contract strongly opposed by Texas locals regardless of party affiliation, Southwest Valley started bulldozing for profit at 8 a.m., razing habitats of threatened species and destroying native vegetation. Running along parts of the Rio Grande, the project threatens mountain lions, black bears, and desert bighorn sheep that need back and forth access to habitat routes on both sides of the river . Conservationists have made clear that Trump’s 30-foot tall steel wall will sever and permanently destroy those routes . Nearly as bad as the senseless destruction of habitat(s) is the expense. The project will cost two thirds of the entire , chronically underfunded National Park Service’s annual budget. And for what? The area sees almost no illicit cross-border traffic, accounts for only 1 % of annual U.S.-Mexico border crossing...
