The hard part will be just trying to build a fence along a river that curves around like a snake. We have a family farm about ten miles north of that border (oranges, grapefruit) and would like to keep it.
Posted on 05/06/2007 3:23:39 PM PDT by deport
BROWNSVILLE — Wildlife refuges along the Rio Grande Valley are expected to be among the first spots where construction of a border fence would begin, a newspaper reports.
The U.S. Border Patrol informed officials with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Friday that refuges in Starr, Hidalgo and Cameron counties are on the fast track for the fence because they are federally-owned lands, according an e-mail from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department to conservationists.
The project includes 82 miles of fencing with a road suitable for driving up to 50 miles per hour, according to the e-mail shown to The Brownsville Herald.
The Texas Parks and Wildlife official who wrote the e-mail confirmed its validity, but wouldn't comment. The Fish and Wildlife Service was given a matter of days to respond.
President Bush called for the fence during his national address on immigration reform and Congress approved it. Of the $1.2 billion Congress approved, at least $400 million has been released.
Earlier this year, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff angered environmentalists when he waived environmental rules to allow for building the border fence.
Russ Knocke, a spokesman for Homeland Security, said today that he could not verify the e-mail. He added that while they are determined to move forward quickly with developing the fence, a final decision has not yet been made about the construction. He says they are continuing to discuss the fencing construction with local, state and federal officials.
Studies to determine the impact of the fence on wildlife haven't been done, but environmental groups are expecting problems.
Rare and endangered species are found in the Rio Grande Valley corridor, which includes the Sabal Palm Audubon Center and Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge.
"There is no place you could put a fence down here and not have a significant impact on the environment. We should all be opposed to this, whether you're an environmentalist or not," Karen Chapman, a wildlife analyst with Environmental Defense.
May 1, 2007, 3:58PM
Texas Officials Criticize Fence Plan
By LYNN BREZOSKY Associated Press Writer
2007 The Associated Press
McALLEN, Texas — A new map showing President Bush's planned border fence has riled Rio Grande Valley officials, who say the proposed barrier reneges on assurances that the river would remain accessible to farmers, wildlife and recreation.
City officials in the heavily populated valley had anticipated a "virtual" fence of surveillance cameras and border patrols.
Instead, a Customs and Border Protection map depicts a structure running piecemeal along a 600-mile stretch of Texas from Presidio to Brownsville, a border region where daily life is binational.
"We were given the impression that they were not going to be building walls, that there would be more cameras, surveillance, boots on the ground," said Mike Allen, head of McAllen Economic Development Corp.
"This is going to seriously affect the farmers," he said. "They will not have access to water. It's just going to create bedlam."
The map, obtained by The Associated Press, was sent to Texas cities with a memo addressed to "Dear Texas Homeland Security Partner." It outlines a plan to build 370 miles of fence and 200 miles of vehicle barriers, such as concrete barriers, by the end of 2008.
Of the 370 miles of fence, Texas is to have 153, Arizona 129, California 76, and New Mexico 12. Most of the vehicle barriers will be in Arizona and New Mexico.
[end snip]..........
Counting down for the enviro-wacko court challenge....3,2,1..
“Report: Border fence to start on wildlife refuges [Texas]”
Doubtful.
My God, how can they do this to the wildlife? Peta, Peta how can thou forsake me? Calling ACLU, where are you?
Wildlife refugees don’t commit crimes against American citizens or use our government’s social services.
Think of all the trash that will be kept out of the wildlife refuge.
Although the 2005 legislation authorized only that fence, the language in the legislation specifically stipulated that any future additional border fencing would not have to consider environmental impact.
It has been mentioned several times in the media that DHS/Chertoff is not considering environmental impact.
¡Refugio Ping!
If you want on, or off this S. Texas/Mexico ping list, please FReepMail me.
“There is no place you could put a fence down here and not have a significant impact on the environment.”
Hmmm? Never heard a peep out of the wildlife people about all the damage illegals do to the parks.
Do we want wildlife getting water or going back and forth from Mexico? Do farmers just want water? Then divert it. Let farmers and wildlife people put ponds in front of the fences or something. I still say we need a toll road by the fence. If states can build a road , they can build a highway. Charge to use it to get to I-10 (until paid for). Do ID checks at exits. Lease spots to McDonalds and Stripes. This doesn’t have to cost us anything. Border states could make a fortune.:’)
Why not make the barrier itself a wildlife refuge? One wall made of concrete panels 20 ft high and too slick to climb and too deep to tunnel under. The wall would be slightly tilted toward the border to make it difficult even to use grappling hooks for scaling. I would think that concrete walls would be cheaper and more effective than fence posts, link fabric, and razor wire.
Another wall 100 ft back, and the flora within a dense growth of prickly pear cactus interspersed with thick bougainvillea bushes, none of which would bother the fauna: Russian boars, wolves, Mexican panthers, and rattlesnakes. Also plenty of hares, ground squirrels, and field rats for the big critters to snack on when they run out of people trying to be illegal immigrants.
Anyone that could get through that would deserve to be here.
Yep, those farmers are out there bailing that water out of the river with buckets and a fence is gonna just cut `em off...
What a moron. The farmers use diesel powered pumps about the size of a semi-truck engine that are CURRENTLY on the North side of the all weather road that runs parallel to and about 100 yards north of the border. This is what Border Patrol uses. This is the "50 mph" road they are talking about constructing. The farmers pumps are all on the NORTH side of the road and Border Patrol and any proposed fence will have zero impact on the farmers ability to get water from the river.
The hard part will be just trying to build a fence along a river that curves around like a snake.
The argument about water and the farmers that was mentioned in one of the articles above, can you enlighten us on any problems you may see that the fence would create for the farmers?..... Out side of blocking them from the suction side of the their pumps I don’t see a major problem. But I can see problems with maintenance/damage/repair to the suction side should the fence not provide for an axcess gate.
I don’t see any problem getting water with a wall in place. We’ve already been fighting with Mexico for years over their unlimited pumping of the Rio Grande. That part won’t change. We’ve had water treaties with Mexico for decades. Lying, cheating and stealing has always been standard proceedure for Mexico...and that’s just their government.
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