Posted on 04/21/2008 4:58:55 AM PDT by TornadoAlley3
WASHINGTON -- The debate over the fence the United States is building along its southern border has focused largely on the costs, feasibility and how well it will curb illegal immigration.
But one of its most lasting impacts may well be on the animals and vegetation that make this politically fraught landscape their home.
Some wildlife researchers have grown so concerned about the consequences of bisecting hundreds of miles of rugged habitat that they have talked of engaging in civil disobedience to block the fence's construction.
"This wall is so asinine and so wrong, I am one of a dozen scientists ready to lay our bodies down in front of tractors," Healy Hamilton, who directs the Center for Biodiversity Research and Information at the California Academy of Sciences, told colleagues at a recent scientific retreat in Tucson, Ariz. "This is one thing we might be able to stop."
"Make it 13!" said Allison Jones, a conservation biologist at the Wild Utah Project, an advocacy group.
Hamilton and Jones have yet to throw themselves before bulldozers, but their call to arms reflects the researchers' growing fears that the wall will imperil species that, in Hamilton's words, "walk, fly or crawl across that border."
Rare species such as jaguars, ocelots and long-nose bats are also likely to face problems with the new barriers, scientists said.
The Bush administration, however, has waived more than 30 environmental and land-management laws to meet its deadline for building at least 360 miles of the border fence.
Two advocacy groups, the Sierra Club and Defenders of Wildlife, have gone to court to challenge the constitutionality of the authority that Congress gave the administration to set aside federally required environmental reviews.
Amy Kudwa, spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, said that despite the waivers, the agency has prepared draft environmental assessments or impact statements for much of the fence -- stretches of which will be composed of metal, concrete or wire -- and that officials will continue to explore ways to mitigate its effect on vulnerable wildlife.
Brian Segee, a Defenders of Wildlife staff lawyer, said the waiver decision will affect plants and animals in areas ranging from the Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge in Texas to Arizona's San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area.
"We're going forward blindly now, and we're going to be learning about the consequences for years to come," Segee said in an interview.
The Lower Rio Grande Valley is home to one of the last free-flowing rivers in the United States, as well as more than 300 butterfly species, more than 500 bird species and the ocelot, an endangered wild cat. Even though 95 percent of the brush habitat in the four counties encompassing the Lower Rio Grande Valley refuge has been eroded, it still boasts 17 federally endangered or threatened species -- more than all of Louisiana.
"The significance of this area, biologically, is extraordinary," said Evan Hirsche, president of the National Wildlife Refuge Association.
One of the most vulnerable species in the valley is the ocelot, a small hunter whose fur resembles that of a jaguar. Eighty to 100 ocelots remain in South Texas.
But their survival depends on access to water and getting to Mexico to breed because the Texas population lacks genetic diversity.
"They're perilously close to going extinct," said Nancy Brown, a Fish and Wildlife public outreach specialist for the refuge. "You think of that irony: We need our cats to get into Mexico. Genetically, they're all starting to look like the same cat."
Homeland Security's assessments do mention ocelots and other imperiled species in brief passages. "Habitat loss and fragmentation especially along the Rio Grande pose a critical threat to the long-term survival of the ocelot. Efforts are underway to preserve key habitat and biological corridors necessary for ocelot survival," said the draft environmental impact statement, published late last year.
Is the fence designed to jam radar? Dang!
I am crying for the poor wasteland and weeds that would be effected!! /s
“This wall is so asinine and so wrong, I am one of a dozen scientists ready to lay our bodies down in front of tractors,”
Do it! We must immediately place blindfolds on all tractor drivers. Wow! Who knew it would be so easy to get rid of moonbats.
Why don't Mexico drill for more oil and gas and put more of their own to work?
I personally know of 2 manufacturing facilities here in NC that sub'd out wiring harnesses, sub-assemblies, etc. to Mexico 4 years ago....the stuff came in with 75% defects and 60% unusable without significant rework. 2 people in both companies were promoted to go back to Mexico to shut the operation down and bring those parts of the biz back to NC
Experienced tractor driver seeks employment driving over environmentalists who want to lay their bodies down to prevent construction of the fence. Willing to work odd hours.
I live near the area with all the fuss about the jaguar. Truth is about once every thirty years or so someone in the area sees a jaguar male. The studies I have heard about all say the jaguar lives and breeds in Mexico with an occasional male wandering a little out of the circle into the U.S.
There was never a real fence planned in this area- the plan for this area was a virtual fence. The man that owns the land in question- and is the largest land owner on the border in New Mexico (possibly the largest land owner on the entire southern border) has refused to allow access to the crew building the virtual fence. I am not sure what his objections to the virtual fence are- but he has really deep pockets so he will likely stop it for a while even with the ruling that has been made about private property owners.
Illegal traffic has done far more harm to the environment and the wildlife than a fence will. The enviros don’t want to talk about that part of the equation. I know someone has those pictures of all the trash left by illegal traffic, the pictures need to be posted in this thread, and should have been included in this article- why is the damage by illegal traffic not mentioned by the media? Illegals also tamper with water systems that water both cattle and wildlife.
I think the environment will improve on the border without the illegal traffic.
Enviro-Wacko Pro-Illegal Ping!
There’s nothing as sad, as seeing a little bird, sitting at the base of a wall, thinking to himself, “Oh! If only I could fly.....”
Hey! Wait a minute!
The damage done to the natural environment by an army of Bush policy inspired invaders far exceeds any potential damage which a fence might create - unless of course, you are a bleeding heart liberal or a corporate exploiter of peon labor, or a politician who panders to them.
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