Interior secretary to break ground at Boquillas crossing

BIG BEND NATIONAL PARK – Ken Salazar, the U.S. Secretary of the Interior, will take part in a groundbreaking ceremony at the site of the new international border crossing at Boquillas at 11am Monday, October 24.

When completed next spring, the crossing will restore the ‘good neighbor’ element of Big Bend National Park that fell victim of the 9/11 attacks. The Department of Homeland Security ordered all informal crossings closed between Texas and Mexico in Brewster and Presidio counties, including three in the park and four outside the park, at Lajitas, Redford, Ruidosa, and Candelaria.

Ken Salazar

The reopened crossing will allow park visitors to once again step into Mexico as a travel experience and allow locals on both sides of the Rio Grande a shorter destination access. It’s also close to and will provide access to the companion parks and preserves in Mexico, the Maderas del Carmen and Cañon de Santa Elena flora and fauna protected areas in Chihuahua and Coahuila states.

Coupled with the national park, Big Bend Ranch State Park, and the Sierra del Carmen research-only private biological preserve owned by Cemex – the Mexican global cement firm – the combined area is one of the largest protected biospheres on earth.