Texas State Park, Bird Sanctuary May Shut If Border Wall Built Through It

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department says it may be forced to close the popular Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park if President Donald Trump’s proposed U.S.-Mexico border wall is constructed through it.

In a letter to the U.S. Border Patrol obtained by The Texas Tribune, the state agency says the wall would “certainly call into question” whether it could “continue to safely operate the property as a state park.”

And it suggests that the Lone Star State might have to return the land back to the family of former Democratic U.S. Sen. Lloyd Bentsen, which sold 586.9 acres along the Rio Grande to the state in 1944 for a single dollar on condition that land be used “solely for public park purposes.”

The agency is urging the agency to consider less impactful alternatives to a wall within the park, The Tribune reported. The park is home to several threatened species of birds and is one of the nation’s top bird-watching destinations.

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