BIG BEND NATIONAL PARK — A years-long effort to expand the boundaries of Big Bend National Park, requiring an act of Congress, comes to a head this week as the 118th Congressional Session comes to a close.
Mere days are remaining to pass the initiative, which was introduced in 2023 via two identical companion bills in both the House and the Senate, Rep. Tony Gonzales filing one and Sen. John Cornyn filing another.
The legislation seeks to expand the boundaries of the national park 6,100 acres westward towards Terlingua. The Big Bend Conservancy, a nonprofit that raises money on behalf of the park, has been acquiring properties in the area for the past couple of years with the end goal of donating the land, which contains the valuable Terlingua Creek watershed, to the park.
While both bills made their way through the chambers of Congress, S.1059, the Big Bend National Park Boundary Adjustment Act, fared more favorably, advancing through the Senate Energy and Natural Resources committee while its House companion stalled due to pushback over the expansion of the federal estate, according to a lobbyist for the Big Bend Conservancy. (Texas is 95% privately owned.)
“Texas is home to beautiful terrain and vibrant wildlife, and Big Bend National Park is no exception,” said Sen. Cornyn when S. 1059 was introduced. “This legislation expands and preserves the park’s heritage, natural resources, and scenery while also safeguarding private property rights, and I urge my Senate colleagues to support it.”
As of last week, the bill was rolled into a larger public lands package, along with 120-150 public lands and forestry bills, which is currently being negotiated among the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and House Committee on Natural Resources. Big Bend Conservancy’s lobbyist said several dynamics are at play that could impact whether the bills make it to President Biden’s desk in the next few days.
While the current public lands package will still exist in the new Congress if it does not pass this session, it will be a whole new ballgame come 2025 with Republicans taking control of both Congress and the White House. Big Bend Conservancy’s lobbyist said Republicans on the Hill are viewing current potential actions as having more favorable outcomes in the new session come January.
The effort to expand Big Bend National Park’s boundaries westward dates back at least four years when a similar 2020 bill, authored by then-Congressman Will Hurd, failed to pass. If the new bill filed in 2023 does not pass soon, it will likely be in for another two-year journey through the chamber of Congress. Executive Director of the Big Bend Conservancy Loren Riemer said while she is prepared for the worst outcome, the conservancy, and their partners, which include the National Park Conservation Association and the National Park Foundation, are still hopeful the bill will be signed into law.
“While we were hopeful for these remaining few days of this Congress, we also stand prepared to work with our great partners and reintroduce in the next congress,” Riemer said. “We have really a groundswell of grassroots support of folks who really want to see this bill passed. So regardless, we’re optimistic, even though we’d like to see it through this year.”
Last year, the conservancy closed on a deal to purchase 3,044 acres — less than an originally planned 3,815 acres — of the Fulcher Ranch, and it continues to fundraise in order to acquire more property within the 6,100-acre expansion boundary, Riemer said.
“As of today, we currently own 3,377 acres within that 6,100-acre proposed boundary adjustments,” Riemer said. “We’re in conversations with, I believe, three additional landholders that we’re hoping to close on within the next month or two, so that it’s the largest quantity of purchased land that goes direct to the park as possible when the bill does eventually pass.”
Riemer said appraisal costs have skyrocketed two, three, and four times on land the conservancy plans to purchase — despite it being undeveloped, uninhabited land inaccessible by road — in the past year and a half, creating a matter of urgency to acquire acreage sooner rather than later.
But no one will be forced to sell. The federal government will not evoke eminent domain in order to acquire more park land, which is clarified in the bill. There will likely be private inholdings — like the Rosillos Ranch within the existing park — within the new 6,100-acre swath, which is not uncommon for a park of Big Bend’s size, Riemer said.
Riemer said due to the expansion area being just 6,100 acres compared to the park’s overall 800,000 acres, additional costs are not associated with maintenance of the land. While the land is not yet in the hands of the Park Service, it is not likely that significant visitor infrastructure will be installed even when it is.
“The plan has always been pure conservation, so there won’t be development of any new trails or anything like that,” Riemer said. “Though, of course, park visitors can explore it, just like any other remote part of the park that they’re allowed to right now.”
The Fulcher Ranch and other properties within the 6,100-acre expansion boundary are worthy of preservation by the National Parks Service due to their potential role in protecting the Terlingua Creek watershed as well as historic homesteads and paleontologically-rich areas, Riemer said.
The park continues to support the slow-going expansion effort. “Through the support of Big Bend Conservancy and pending legislation efforts, we are looking forward to being able to incorporate the Terlingua Creek history, geology and habitat into Big Bend National Park,” Superintendent Anjna O’Connor said.
The boundary expansion comes at a time when park visitation remains high — with over 500,000 visitors a year — and surrounding communities of Terlingua and Study Butte continue to experience growth due to the influx of tourists and tourism-related developments, prompting, among other things, concerns over sparse water resources.
Part of the potential new park land’s role will be to preserve the Window Trail’s iconic viewshed, Riemer said, due to its location on the horizon when looking down from the Chisos Mountains. Until recently, there was no man-made light pollution at the lookout, Riemer said, but now, as dusk falls, lights from Terlingua and Study Butte can be seen.
“Even from just a visitor experience of that dark sky and viewshed, we view this as a really vital piece of property to ensure that we maintain those vistas,” Riemer said.