"I do not believe that this undertaking in the Big Bend will be complete until the entire park area in this region on both sides of the Rio Grande forms one great international park."     
President Franklin D. Roosevelt, October 24, 1944

   Rotarians have been involved in promoting peace parks since 1931 when, in response to post World War I efforts to promote world peace, Rotarians from Montana (US) and Alberta (Canada) played an instrumental role in convincing their governments to create the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park, the world's first international peace park.
    An International Park between the U.S. and Mexico in the Big Bend area of Texas, Chihuahua and Coahuila was first proposed in 1935. A series of meetings between government officials from both countries led both Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and President Manual Camancho Avila to promote the concept to their respective governments. The window of opportunity both Presidents helped to open was unfortunately interrupted by the onset of World War II.
    Over 400 Rotarians from both districts helped to dedicate the project and encourage its completion when Past RI President Jim Lacy presided over a Bi-district meeting dedication ceremony on November 8, 1998 at Chamizal National Memorial.   Over the past three years the Rotary Bi-District Committee has also received support for the project from President Ernesto Zedillo of Mexico, the U.S. Department of the Interior, the National Park Service, Friends of Big Bend National Park, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, the National Parks and Conservation Association, the Sierra Club and the El Paso Zoological Society. 
     Forty years after the creation of Big Bend National Park in Texas in 1944 the government of Mexico designated the Maderas del Carmen Protected Area in Coahuila and the Canon de Santa Elena Protected Area in Chihuahua in 1994.
     In 1997 both governments signed a Letter of Intent calling for increased cooperation between all the protected areas (see map) in the Big Bend on both sides of the Rio Grande. Now that we have all the potential International Park land areas protected, the Letter of Intent helps to pave the way for the designation of the long proposed International Park. Legislation is needed now to combine all three areas as a International Park while respecting each countries sovereignty and management authority.

An International Park will:

(1) help to call international attention to the transboundary protected areas and the need to promote the long term protection of the region's fascinating flora and fauna including a number of rare and endangered species,

(2) become a permanent monument and symbol of peace between the US and Mexico, one that President Roosevelt said would celebrate the friendship between the two countries and be a meeting ground where the people of both countries and citizens from all parts of the world could come together to learn about each others culture while coming to better understand the natural world that they all share.

(3) help to call the region's attention to the needs of people living in rural areas without adequate running water, electricity, sanitation and educational opportunities. The people living in the area can not be expected to support the long term protection of the region if their needs are not also taken care of.

     On August 21, 1999 a group of 22 Rotarians from Districts 5520 and 4110 met in Juarez, Chihuahua to discuss the status of Bi-District efforts to create a U.S./Mexico International Park.  As a result of that meeting, Rotarians from across both Districts as well as other individuals from around the world are being asked to contact government and community leaders in support of the project and to become more active in helping to educate others about the project everywhere.  
     With both countries entering the terms of two new Presidents, our international committee believes that we need to speak out NOW if we are going to have a chance to complete this project before the RI Convention in San Antonio in June of 2001..  Rotarians in Districts 5520 and 4110 and Rotarians from around the world are being asked to contact government officials from both countries to support legislation from both countries to finally create the park that President Roosevelt proclaimed "would not be complete until the entire park area in this region on both sides of the Rio Grande forms one great international park."
     Rotarians and others are also encouraged to help gain support from businesses in the region particularly West Texas and Northern Mexico plus regional Chambers of Commerce, non-profit organizations, citizens groups, educational institutions and various State and Federal government agencies.  Please send copies of your correspondence, newspaper articles etc. to Rick LoBello, 913 Totonaca Lane, El Paso, Texas  79912 or e-mail RickLLoBello@cs.com. 

Communities in Mexico that could benefit economically from the creation of an International Peace Park:

Boquillas del Carmen, Coahuila	La Linda, Coahuila
Musquiz, Coahuila	Cuidad Acuna, Coahuila
Santa Elena, Chihuahua	San Carlos, Chihuahua
Ojinaga, Chihuahua	San Carlos, Chihuahua

Communities in the U.S. that could benefit economically from the creation of an International  Park:

Alpine, Texas	Marathon, Texas
Sanderson, Texas	Del Rio, Texas
Ft. Stockton, Texas	Presidio, Texas
Marfa, Texas	Midland, Texas
Odessa, Texas	El Paso, Texas

Big Bend National Park, the Chisos Mountains in clouds.  ©Rick LoBello

For more information about this project contact rickllobello@cs.com or call  Rick LoBello at 915-474-1456.

Helping to conserve nature and advance  international understanding and goodwill around the world

Rotary is the world's first and most international service club with over 31,000 clubs in over 166 countries.