Big Bend National Park

Big Bend National Park Big Bend International Dark Sky Park
Typical landscape in Big Bend National Park
Coordinates: 29 ° 11 ′ 1.4 "  N , 102 ° 57 ′ 45.3"  W.
Location:	Texas , United States
Next city:	El Paso, Texas
Surface:	3,242.19 km²
Founding:	June 12, 1944 since 1976 UNESCO biosphere reserve since Feb. 2012 International Dark Sky Park Gold , DSAG category  2a
Visitors:	440.091 (2018)
Address:	Big Bend National Park P.O. Box 129 Big Bend National Park, TX 79834 Tel. [phone]

The Big Bend National Park is located in south Texas on the border with Mexico . The Rio Grande forms a 1500 km long part of this border between Mexico and the USA and around a quarter of it also forms the border of the national park . The park covers a total area of ​​over 3,200 square kilometers, making it one of the largest national parks in the United States .

In 1976 the park was recognized by UNESCO as a biosphere reserve . In February 2012 the national park was recognized as a light protection area by the International Dark Sky Association as International Dark Sky Park  (IDSP, in gold) and has since been called Big Bend International Dark Sky Park .
South of the Rio Grande are the Mexican states Chihuahua and Coahuila and the newly established nature reserves Maderas del Carmen and Cañon de Santa Elena .

The park covers a large part of the Chihuahua Desert . The climate in the area is very extreme. In late spring and summer, temperatures can often exceed 40 degrees Celsius. Winters are usually very mild, but frosts are quite possible. The rainy season lasts from about mid-July to September, but some very dry areas of land sometimes don't get a drop of rain.

Landscape and wildlife

Desert-like landscapes cover most of the national park area. Yuccas and various cacti are striking plant species in these areas . Otherwise bushes dominate these areas. However, the deserts of the park are among the wettest deserts in North America, so that a relatively large number of animal species are found here. Typical animal species in these dry zones are collar peccaries , mule deer , donkey rabbits and racing cuckoos .

Since the height of the park ranges from 500 meters up to 2300 meters, there is a variety of habitats and a variety of occurring animal and plant species. On the slopes of the Chisos Mountains there are forests of oak, pine and juniper with increasing altitude. There are still some black bears living in these forests. Their population in the park is estimated at around 8-12 fully grown animals. There are also river forests on the Rio Grande. Although the main area of ​​the park is covered by shrub deserts, there are also savanna-like areas in which grasses dominate. In the past, this type of landscape made up a significantly larger proportion of the area.

Big Bend National Park is still home to pumas, and over 150 visitor sightings are reported each year. Other typical mammals in the park include coyotes, white-tailed deer , Audubon cottontail rabbits , foxes and bobcats. The vultures are one of the most conspicuous bird species. Turkey vultures inhabit different habitats in the national park from the mountains down into the deserts and up to the river landscapes of the Rio Grande. The black vultures , on the other hand, rarely leave the area around the river. In total there are over 1200 plant species and 3,600 insect species in the park. Vertebrates are also well represented with 40 species of fish, 11 species of amphibians, 56 species of reptiles, 75 species of mammals and 450 species of birds. This makes the national park the most biodiverse in the USA.

Arid landscape in Big Bend National Park

Collared peccaries are common in the park

A canyon of the Rio Grande in Big Bend National Park

history

The rocks in the park are rich in fossils from the Cretaceous period , including the remains of several skeletons of Quetzalcoatlus , the largest known pterosaur. Furthermore, up to 9000 years old evidence of human settlement can be found here.

In the time before the discovery by the Europeans, various Indian groups lived in the area of ​​Big Bend. The Chisos Indians were a loosely organized group of nomadic hunters and gatherers who, to a certain extent, also practiced agriculture. Their origin is not clear. Linguistically they are with the Conchos brought -Indianern of northern Chihuahua and northwestern Coahuila in connection. Their language belongs to the Uto-Aztec group , which was spread from central Mexico to far into the USA. The Jumano were a nomadic group who traded in western Texas and southeastern New Mexico. Some sources suggest that they were enemies of the Chisos. At the beginning of the 18th century, the Natage (pronounced Na-tah-hay, derived from Nadahéndé = "people of the Mescal", the name of other Apache groups for the Mescalero), who were closely allied with the Mescalero - Apaches, began to immigrate and the Chiso and the Ousting Jumano. The last to invade Big Bend was the Comanche , as a branch of the Great Comanche Trail ran through this area and was used by them on their regular forays into interior Mexico. These forays continued into the middle of the 19th century.

The Window

The historically documented period begins around AD 1535 when the Spaniards began to explore this part of North America. The Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vacas expedition passed near what is now the national park. This and the following expeditions were looking for gold and silver , cultivable land and Indian slaves . In order to secure the northern border of Mexico against the raids of the Mescalero, Natage and Lipan , a chain of forts , so-called presidios , was built along the Rio Grande around 1700 . Many of these forts were soon abandoned, on the one hand for financial reasons, on the other hand because they did not offer effective protection against attacks by the Indians on Mexican territory.

In the wake of the war between the United States and Mexico, which ended in 1849 , the unmapped area of ​​Big Bend was explored by military reconnaissance missions. Fortified stations were built to protect settlers from Indian attacks. The permanent settlement of the land began around 1870, and around 1900 most of the land was used for breeding sheep, goats and cattle. However, the intensive use soon led to overgrazing .

Ore deposits were discovered around 1900. As a result, more and more settlers came to work in the mines or to carry out work around the mines in smelting plants or as loggers.

Efforts began in 1930 to place the land under protection, which was now also valued for its unique, contrasting and beautiful landscape. The state of Texas acquired the land and Texas Canyons State Park was established. On June 12, 1944, the state park became Big Bend National Park.

To date there is only one hotel in the national park, the Chisos Mountain Lodge.

There are current plans between the government of Mexico and the USA to expand Big Bend National Park, which is located on the border between the two states, into a US Mexico International Park . The border crossing to Mexico into the Maderas del Carmen Nature Park has been reopened in April 2013 . It was closed in early 2002 as a result of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 . The crossing can only be used on foot through the shallow water of the border river or with a passenger ferry. Ranger of the National Park Service are present at the transition, border control is by agents of the US Customs and Border Protection km in around 500 distant El Paso exercised, which will be submitted to the passports of entering the country by cameras and scanners.

Web links

Commons : Big Bend National Park  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• National Park Service: Big Bend National Park (official site; English)
• Big Bend National Park in the Handbook of Texas (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Big Bend - Biosphere Reserve Information , unesco.org;
   International Biosphere Reserves , usparks.about.com
2. ^ IDA Gold Tier Designation , nps.gov, February 6, 2012;
   Big Bend National Park designated as an International Dark Sky Park . Deborah Byrd on earthsky.org, Blogs, Feb. 11, 2012
3. ↑ Information on iloveparks.com ( Memento of July 13, 2011 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on January 23, 2010
4. ↑ Houston Chronicle: In Boquillas, reopened border crossing a welcome sight , April 15, 2013
5. ↑ kHou.com: Border crossing in Big Bend breathes new life into tiny town Boquillas ( Memento from May 1, 2013 in the Internet Archive ), April 22, 2013