This story was originally published by Reasons to be Cheerful
2 min read
In August, videos of bulldozers ripping up the mouth of the iconic Santa Elena Canyon in Texas’ Big Bend went viral, propelling one of the country’s most remote national parks into the national spotlight. Construction crews were hard at work in the early stages of cutting a brand-new “patrol road” for law enforcement just feet away from an existing road to the canyon, whose 1,500-foot limestone cliffs, locals argue, form a natural border wall constructed millions of years ahead of schedule.
Locals sprang into action, taking shifts monitoring construction and volunteering to rescue endangered plants — including the Chisos Mountain hedgehog cactus and all the spiny plants that provide protective nests for species like the yellow-billed cuckoo — ahead of the bulldozers. A rally was held on the beach in the shadow of the canyon, where people from all walks of life joined hands in the mud. “People think the Rio Grande divides us, but what the river actually does is unite us,” Hillary Pierce, an organizer with No Big Bend Wall, said into the bullhorn while holding a sign that said DON’T BULLDOZE MY CHURCH.
The post A Wall Meant to Divide Is Uniting Left and Right in Texas appeared first on Reasons to be Cheerful.
