Epi’s Canoe and Kayak Team

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EAGLE PASS, Texas — Epi’s Canoe and Kayak Team was founded in 2015. It was a joint effort between Jessie Fuentes, the city of Eagle Pass and the City Main Street Program to bring positive attention to the Rio Grande. Through federal and state funding opportunities they were able to launch progressive canoe and kayak activities on the Rio Grande. They conducted races, lessons and tours that included participants on the other side of the river in Mexico.

“I was bringing attention to the river and its beauty, its ecosystem, its environment and just the culture and history of the river itself,” Fuentes said.

Jessie Fuentes and his grandson. Photo: Liliana Fannin

The pandemic forced a shutdown of a year. After quarantine, they tried to bring Epi’s back with kayak lessons and tours, but this was not long after Operation Lone Star was established by Governor Abbott in March of 2021. This gave the governor the power to enforce new rules and regulations to the Rio Grande and Shelby Park right on the US-Mexico border in Eagle Pass. This included restricting Epi’s limitations on when, where and who could be on the river, according to Fuentes.

At this time Fuentes began to witness islands on the river being bulldozed, riverbanks being grazed over with big machinery and the vegetation being sprayed with chemicals. Epi’s began offering tours to journalists so they can see the point of view of from the water. Fuentes wanted to show the media what was happening to the river so that perspective could be shared.

“We had to change from promoting the positives to trying to be on the defensive, showing the ugliness,” Fuentes said.

On Jan. 10, 2024, the Texas Military Department came in and fully closed Shelby Park. Since this day restrictions have become even stricter on Epi’s Canoe and Kayak Team.

“Ever since then I have just been struggling,” Fuentes said. “Struggling trying to get people on the river and of course trying to generate some revenue for the company. It’s a service that I offer, but it is also a way to maintain the company.”

This project was created through a journalism class at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Journalism, Advertising and Media Studies Department. This work was made possible through the support of MPC Endowment Ltd., the philanthropic affiliate of the Milwaukee Press Club.