Outrage has erupted over border infrastructure that's recently begun tearing up pristine desert landscapes in Big Bend National Park. But a quieter battle is unfolding on private lands in Texas, where the US border wall is set to cut through some of North America’s richest archaeological sites.

Bipartisan backlash against border wall construction in the national park was swift, leading the US Department of Homeland Security to scrap plans for a 30-foot steel bollard wall. Instead, miles of riverside vehicle barriers and over 200 miles of road construction will be built. Bulldozers began clearing near Santa Elena Canyon on August 6.

Construction has since been paused in the park due to lawsuits, but plans remain for the wall, along with extensive roadwork, which will span mountains and canyons outside the national park. Archeologist Bryon Schroeder’s dig site, Canta Recio, is directly in the path of the proposed wall, risking its destruction.

The paradox facing archeologists: they cannot fully measure what's at risk because many sites exist on private ranches and have never been studied. This means construction may erase history before anyone gets to record it. Previously, historically important sites were destroyed despite previous studies.