“Terrible, Thoughtless, and Reckless”: Inside the Firings at Big Bend National Park

When Christy Perry, a young Houston woman, went missing while hiking in Big Bend National Park in 2023, it prompted an all-hands-on-deck response. The park’s search-and-rescue team, which included staff members across all departments, with the assistance of other federal and state agencies, fanned out across the surrounding canyons from where her car was parked. Two days after their formal search began, the team found Perry a quarter mile below the trail she’d embarked on a week earlier and returned her to safety.Perry wasn’t the only park visitor in need of critical help in recent years. As global average temperatures continue to rise, with summer heat in Big Bend National Park regularly reaching 110 degrees, the park has seen more instances of heat exhaustion, and,…

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