KWES NewsWest 9 / Midland, Odessa, Big Spring, TX: newswest9.com | Parts of Big Bend to Close for Peregrine Falcons

Parts of Big Bend to Close for Peregrine Falcons

BIG BEND - Parts of Big Bend National Park will be temporarily closed to the public to provide nesting areas for the Peregrine Falcon.

The following areas will be closed to the public from February 1st to May 31st:

• The Southeast Rim Trail and a port of the Northeast Rim Trail from the Boot Canyon/Southeast Rim junction to a point just north of Campsite NE-4.
• All Southeast Rim campsites as well as Northeast campsites 4 and 5.

Technical rock climbing on rock faces within 1/4 mile of known Peregrine eyries will not be allowed between February 1st and July 15th.

The park does not plan to close any other areas, but restrictions could change if the bird's nesting sites do not follow traditional trends.

The Peregrine Falcon was removed from the federal endangered species list in 1999. The falcon has made a comeback, but there are less than a dozen known nesting pairs in Texas and the bird remains on the state's endangered species list.