By Ashley Killough

(CNN) — While the federal government has paused work to build border security infrastructure in Texas’ Big Bend National Park, people opposing similar construction in the broader region are set to attend a state commission Wednesday to stop it on state land.

Many West Texas landowners, business operators and law enforcement officials are expected to be at the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s annual public hearing in Austin to protest the border measures – including plans for construction at Big Bend Ranch State Park, near the national park – that they say will harm the environment, impact recreational businesses and destroy archeological sites along the US-Mexico border.

The meeting comes two days after US Customs and Border Protection chief Rodney Scott, facing bipartisan pushback about the project, paused construction in the national park to visit and talk with local law enforcement and other stakeholders.

The planned work in Texas’ Big Bend area is part of a bigger federal plan to complete border wall and other border security measures before President Donald Trump leaves office. In Big Bend National Park, the current plan calls for not erecting a traditional wall, but placing barriers for vehicles, building patrol roads and improving existing roads. Heavy machinery bulldozed and excavated parts of the park this month until Scott announced the pause.

On Tuesday, Scott met with local sheriffs and border county judges, telling them the construction work would be paused for at least two weeks and reiterating the agency had no plans to build a wall in the national park, according to two sheriffs at the meeting. Scott also said he would consider scrapping plans to build new patrol roads and use existing roads in the national park instead.

Many remain cautious about whether Scott’s visit will lead to lasting change.

“We’re all skeptical, but at the same time, this place can move you,” said Laiken Jordahl, national public lands advocate with the Center for Biological Diversity, which has filed legal suits to stop the groundwork. “Once he’s laid eyes on this park, I want to believe he is capable of being moved and canceling the contract completely.”

Here’s what we know about the contentious project in Big Bend:

What is the Big Bend region like?

Big Bend is a massive region of Texas that’s carved out by the Rio Grande turning sharply to the northeast before heading back southeast. When looking at a map of Texas, it’s the elbow-shaped corner in the far west part of the state.

The region is expansive, rugged and sparsely populated, and it has a series of mountain ranges. It comprises several counties and can take four hours to drive across. It also has some of the darkest skies on the planet, with a booming astrotourism industry.

At the very southern tip of the region is Big Bend National Park, which shares 118 miles of border with Mexico and is spread across 801,163 acres in Texas. It is considered one of the most isolated and remote parks in the contiguous United States but still had more than half a million visitors in 2025. It’s popular for hiking, birdwatching, rafting, canoeing and night sky viewing. It’s the only national park that has its own mountain range, the Chisos Mountains.

Just west of the park is Big Bend Ranch State Park, the largest state park in Texas covering more than 300,000 acres. This park also falls along the Rio Grande and includes mountainous terrain with tall cliffs and a desert landscape. According to Texas Parks and Wildlife, the park has been called El Despoblado, or “The Uninhabited,” due to its remote and rugged landscape.

Immigration in Big Bend

You may also hear CBP refer to “The Big Bend Sector,” a law enforcement zone that stretches 517 miles along the Rio Grande in the Big Bend region. The sector reaches farther inland from the border, encompassing more than 100 counties in Texas and Oklahoma.

In terms of immigration statistics, the Big Bend Sector is about one quarter of the US-Mexico border, but it sees the smallest number of apprehensions compared to other CBP sectors, due to its rugged terrain. In 2025, about 1.3% of border apprehensions took place here, according to CBP data.

For generations, the idea of building physical border barriers in the Big Bend region was thought unnecessary because of the harsh, mountainous landscape that naturally limited migrant traffic. In a statement last week, CBP said that because it was strengthening border security along other parts of the boundary with Mexico, it would “not leave Big Bend as an opening for cartels to exploit by shifting their routes and tactics.”

What work has been done already?

The projects spanning the border in the Big Bend region include plans for a 30-foot steel bollard wall, vehicle barriers, new patrol roads and technology. The total project is expected to cost over $7 billion, and will be covered by the $46.5 billion allocated for border wall construction in Trump’s signature legislation, the “Big Beautiful Bill.”

Earlier this year, CBP plans indicated the national park would receive a steel bollard wall, sparking intense pushback from defenders of the national park. The agency later said it won’t build the wall in the park.

Still, when federal contractors began using heavy machinery in the national park to clear land this month, tensions rose again and questions were renewed about their plans. Crews have been working near Santa Elena Canyon, an iconic spot nestled among towering cliffs along the Rio Grande, as well as near Mariscal Mountain to the east.

Residents and activists keeping tabs on the construction estimate at least four miles have been cleared so far, though CBP has not verified that number.

The cleared-out land will be used for surveying and eventually 200 miles of patrol roads, CBP said in a statement last week. The agency also said it would install 17 miles of vehicle barriers at “strategic locations.”

The physical barriers – like walls and fencing – will be more prominent outside the park, according to current plans. To the west of the park, CBP plans to build 175 miles of 30-foot bollard wall across Hudspeth, Jeff Davis, and Presidio counties. To the east of the park, plans include 165 miles of vehicle barriers.

Much of the land along the Rio Grande to the east and west of the national park is considered private property. Landowners told CNN they’ve already received paperwork and communications from the government requesting access to their property, and many fear eminent domain battles. CNN has also spotted two large staging areas with bollard wall waiting to be installed in the western part of the Big Bend region, just south of Van Horn, Texas.

What legal challenges is the project facing?

This summer, the Department of Homeland Security waived more than 30 federal laws and regulations to expedite construction activity in Texas, including the Endangered Species Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, and the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.

At least four lawsuits have been filed challenging the waivers and construction activity, both in the national park and the broader Big Bend region. In the past week alone, two motions for emergency relief have been filed in federal court. Judges in those cases could make decisions in the coming weeks that could potentially halt the projects across the Big Bend region while the lawsuits play out.

Last month, the state of Texas strongly pushed back against the feds when contractors cleared roughly a mile of state land in the western part of the Big Bend region. Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham said the activity had not been approved and sent a cease-and-desist letter to CBP as well as the contractor, Barnard Construction.

“Texas sovereignty will not be infringed upon by failure to follow established protocol,” Buckingham said at the time.

In a statement this week, Buckingham confirmed the activity had stopped, and that her office was working with the contractor to determine steps for remediating the land. She said her office was also surveying other state tracts in nearby areas, along with relevant titles and deeds, to determine the extent of any potential trespass.

“Our process concerning wall construction will ensure all factors, including our conservation obligations, are carefully considered,” Buckingham said in the statement.

Where do things stand?

Scott, the CBP commissioner, met with a bipartisan group of county judges and sheriffs on Tuesday, many of whom are outspoken against physical barriers in the rugged Big Bend region. They prefer more technology for border enforcement.

At the meeting, Scott said construction work in the national park would not resume for at least another two weeks and until CBP had more time to meet with other stakeholders in the region, according to Republican Sheriff Thaddeus Cleveland, who was at the meeting.

“He committed to keeping all work stopped. It won’t start up again until he’s had time, or local stakeholders can meet with CBP and tell him what they think the better advantage is for this area,” Cleveland said on CNN’s “The Lead with Jake Tapper.”

Scott was also open to reconsidering current plans to build new roads in the national park and improve or use existing roads instead, according to Sheriff Ronny Dodson of Brewster County, where the national park is located.

The sheriffs said Scott reiterated CBP was still not building a steel bollard wall in the park but said vehicle barriers may remain part of the plan in certain locations. CBP would consider the needs of local business owners who require access to the river for recreational activities, the sheriffs were told.

According to Dodson, Scott emphasized that the vehicle barriers could be designed to fit into the scenery of the park, saying CBP could make them look like petrified trees, for example.

Both sheriffs said Scott had taken aerial tours of the Big Bend region.

“I think he’s getting a pretty good education,” said Dodson. “He wasn’t unreasonable.”

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