"Overshadowed by the fight over Big Bend, the White House’s wall expansion could degrade some of the few public hunting opportunities in Texas."
"Toward the eastern edge of Big Bend National Park lies a stretch of Texas public land that sprawls across the rugged Chihuahuan desert. Black Gap Wildlife Management Area is home to bighorn sheep, black bears, mule deer and quail. At more than 100,000 acres, it is the state’s largest wildlife management area, or WMA. In a state that is 95 percent privately owned, it’s one of the most remote public parcels that hunters can freely roam in search of small game.
The Trump administration’s planned border wall threatens to cut right through it.
Since February, Customs and Border Protection has drawn furious backlash from the public over constantly shifting plans to expand its border wall infrastructure into two cherished west Texas wildlands — Big Bend National Park and neighboring Big Bend Ranch State Park.
But the wall expansion is also likely to impact several public parcels held by the state that have attracted less attention, including unique public hunting grounds in a state where pay-to-play access dominates. The Trump administration’s plans appear to impact two large walk-on properties, and several more that conduct a limited number of coveted big game hunts by lottery."
