Construction activity has begun along the proposed route of a new US border wall through Big Bend National Park and surrounding ranch lands in remote west Texas, alarming residents, landowners, and conservationists across the political spectrum. A $1.2 billion contract has been awarded to Fisher Sand and Gravel to build 70–80 miles of barrier from Presidio County through Colorado Canyon, with road-widening, survey stakes, and access requests from the Army Corps of Engineers already under way. Despite the US Customs and Border Protection agency quietly updating its map to show only surveillance technology in parts of the area — widely interpreted as a concession to public pressure — no formal announcement has been made, and affected landowners say the shifting, opaque communications from federal authorities have left them unable to determine the true fate of their properties and livelihoods.