Group advocates for Big Bend Wilderness designation

The Rio Grande at Big Bend National Park, Texas by Raymond Skiles

Over the past year a group of people calling themselves Keep Big Bend Wild with members and supporters from the Big Bend region and across the country has been working on gaining public support to designate Big Bend National Park as part of the national wilderness system.

Keep Big Bend Wild seeks to ensure that the natural and cultural resources of Big Bend National Park (BBNP) and the nature-based experiences we have come to love in past decades are preserved in perpetuity. 

KEEP BIG BEND WILD is a collaborative effort by people who share a common appreciation of Big Bend National Park and who want to ensure that the wild character of Big Bend will continue and thrive. Some are locals.  Some are retirees from the National Park Service at Big Bend and other parks.  Others know Big Bend well as visitors or have volunteered at Big Bend.  By and large, all of them have returned to Big Bend repeatedly because they care deeply about the future of the park. 

The Chisos Mountains from Tornillo Flat in Big Bend National Park, Texas NPS Photo by Erik Walker.

KEEP BIG BEND WILD recognizes that the undeveloped areas of the park that were recommended for wilderness protection more that forty years ago are currently being managed to protect their wild values.  These areas are vulnerable to development pressure until Congress formally admits them into the national wilderness system – something only Congress can do.  At the same time, the group appreciates the camping and lodging and river trip options and amenities that allow a visit to Big Bend National Park to truly be an accessible and enjoyable experience for everyone who visits. 

KEEP BIG BEND WILD has put together a website to explain to other Big Bend enthusiasts and the general public just why it is a good idea to pursue wilderness designation for suitable areas of Big Bend National Park now.  The website helps answer questions about what wilderness designation would protect and what it would allow to continue at the park. 

On January 12, 2022 Bob Krumenaker, superintendent of Big Bend National Park and Rio Grande Wild and Scenic River in west Texas will speak on the Superintendent’s Perspective on Big Bend National Park: Wilderness, Infrastructure, the Border, and Other Issues at the virtual annual meeting of the Chihuahuan Desert Education Coalition. To learn more and to register for the meeting (deadline is January 7) click here.

Rick LoBello, Education Curator

Cover Image by Raymond Skiles