Near the Verde River, outside of Cottonwood
Canyon de Chelly, outside of Chinle
Do I have to tell you? :)
Tonto Natural Bridge, outside of Payson
Navajo Code Talker Memorial, Window Rock
Posted on 06/11/2010 1:10:10 PM PDT by fightinJAG
I lived in Glendale for seven years as a child and in Tempe for a year as a teenager. My high school graduation present from a family member was a helicopter tour through the Grand Canyon, Painted Desert, Sedona, and the Sonoran Desert. I’d been to all of them by car, on foot, and horseback many, many times. Seeing them from the air was like watching the hand of God in action.
I hadn’t seen the pictures of the illegal highway until your post. They’re absolutely heartbreaking to me. I’m now seriously considering taking a vacation this fall to go help clean it up. (I will be armed.)
My wife DRUG be to Arizona to go to her friends wedding. I dragged my feet, tried to make a last minute illness credible ... alas, I wound up in Arizona. And then I wondered why I should ever go back home! For those of us in the Southeastern US, Arizona is a different as a moonscape. Absolutely beautiful, I must have taken 1000 pictures. Got to see the Grand Canyon, walked out of the hotel and was 20 feet from a bobcat munching on a rabbit. I’m now trying to get my wife’s other friends to get married in Arizona. I hope people don’t miss this because of some “lefty” boycott. What a beautiful state.
The beautiful top picture is now my wallpaper on the computer...just beautiful..........thanks....GG
I hope people will send the link to these pics around. This has to be seen to be believed.
I had only seen the western United States in, well, westerns. Then I got sent to Tucson for a week or so on assignment and, as you said, as we were driving from the airport out into the desert, I seriously thought I landed on the Moon! I had never experienced anything like it and I was overwhelmed with how majectic and beautiful it was — and this was just what you could see from basic roadsides.
As soon as I got settled in, I called my spousal unit and said, “Get on a plane and get out here! I’ll take a few days leave — you gotta see this!” And that’s what we did.
Arizona, and much of the southwest, is an incredible gem. And most Americans have no idea how much the southwest adds to our economy in terms of tourism, especially international tourism during the years the exchange rate is favorable. People all over the world want to come and experience the American southwest for themselves.
To see it trashed like this -— the captions talk even about the thousands of used baby diapers piled up in the desert -— is despicable. Aren’t these people crawling out of Mexico because it’s a huge trashpile?
Yes, go to Arizona. We vacationed there again two years ago and, for something different, took a very entertaining tour of the Cardinals Stadium in Phoenix (the field is on rollers and they keep it outside the stadium when it’s not being used for games). We also enjoyed another visit to the desert botanical gardens.
Great idea, I’m doing that, too!
Near the Verde River, outside of Cottonwood
Canyon de Chelly, outside of Chinle
Do I have to tell you? :)
Tonto Natural Bridge, outside of Payson
Navajo Code Talker Memorial, Window Rock
Don't miss it. It is one of the most beautiful -- and interesting -- parts of the state.
Similarly, the Cave Creek Canyon in the Chiricahuas above Portal (in SE Arizona) could have been the Garden of Eden.
And, for good measure, Rosa's Little Italy near Bisbee in Warren, AZ (dinner, by reservation only) is one of the great restaurants in the United States.
Trust me on that one...
I sent the link to my aunt who lives in Gilbert. She asked me if it could have been staged. Staged?!?! No way, IMHO.
She said if these pictures are real and get out to the public that it will change the immigration debate. She has lived in Arizona for 40 years and still can’t believe the destruction in those photographs ...
For the record, these photographs are not staged. Here are two confirmations. The truth is out.
http://www.tucsonweekly.com/tucson/trashing-arizona/Content?oid=1168857
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,354398,00.html
Neat picture. Is that WW2 'Wind Talkers'?
Read more details and statistics on the illegal immigrant waste at http://www.tucsonweekly.com/tucson/trashing-arizona/Content?oid=1168857
I have every confidence (unfortunately) that they are real. I think I’ll do some googling; bet I can come up with even more.
Also there are some AZ freepers onboard here who actually live within a few miles of the Mexican border. They sure have stories to tell. It’s not just trash. One freeper has to carry his pistol at all times, even inside his house. Another uses night vision devices when he has to go outside on his own land at night. I need to bookmark the threads where these posts were made, so I can post the links rather than just what I remember of them.
And, yes, these pics do need to get out to the public. I’m still astounded at all the baby diapers.
Be still my heart!
[excerpt, click on the "more" link above for internal links]
UPDATE: For the whiny little trolls who think these photos are staged, go read what The Lonely Conservative dug up.
Government officials and border activists say the garbage dumped in the desert by illegal immigrants and their smugglers is staggering.
And the cleanup is costing taxpayers millions.
In 2006 alone, more than 1.18 million pounds of trash was collected along southern Arizona border, many in the meeting spots where immigrants rest, change clothes and wait to hitch a ride further north with a smuggler.
"You can find everything," said Shela McFarlin, special assistant for international programs at the Arizona Bureau of Land Management. "Blankets, airline tickets, Bibles, wedding pictures, photos of children, school reports, because clearly people don't tend to throw away everything they've brought with them — they're forced to."
UPDATE II: Naturally these photos are real. They're from a staging area called a "layup" while illegal immigrants wait and change clothes for their journey to wherever they're going. The photos were posted June, 28, 2007, by the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps. They are as relevant today as they were nearly 3 years ago, despite how "misguided" pResident Zero claims they may be.
“The litter at Diablito, on state land, was so solid that you could walk a half-mile without your feet touching the sand.”
Here’s a person looking at it from the perspective of cleaning up the environment:
http://www.nyu.edu/classes/keefer/EvergreenEnergy/oakesr.html
BLM administers only 44 miles of border in Arizona However, BLM employees can no longer work in some areas along the Arizona-Mexico border due to the risks of encountering drug smugglers and large groups of illegal immigrants. In other areas, BLM employees are directed to work in pairs, carry satellite phones and take other precautions to reduce risks. This decreases work productivity. Also, visitors are discouraged to visit certain BLM lands, including recreation areas, due to the risks mentioned above.
The first 100 miles north of the Mexico border are considered the most impacted by drug smuggling and illegal immigration. This includes more than 3.7 million acres administered by BLM. BLM lands include 15 Congressionally designated Wilderness Areas, one wilderness study area, two National Conservation Areas and two National Monuments. The San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area, Ironwood Forest National Monument, and Sonoran Desert National Monument are considered to be the most impacted of the BLM lands. These three areas total approximately 683,000 acres. In FY2005, more than 10,300 arrests were made, 11,256 pounds of Marijuana were seized and 167 vehicles were seized on these three areas alone.
Over the past eight years in Arizona, literally hundreds of illegal roads and trails have been created across BLM lands by drug smugglers, illegal immigrants and law enforcement officers in pursuit. These roads and trails fragment wildlife habitat, destroy vegetation, compact soils, cause erosion, and in many places create an unsightly maze of roads and trails that confuse visitors. In FY2004, BLM youth groups and volunteers rehabilitated more than 30 illegal roads and trails and five ever-widening pull outs. Many more require rehabilitation.
Nearly 2,500 vehicles were seized on Federal and Tribal lands in Arizona in FY2004. Most abandoned vehicles do not run, have blown-out tires or are wrecked. They are left in washes, riparian areas and remote desert. They are difficult and costly to remove. More than 200 abandoned vehicles had to be removed from the Sonoran Desert National Monument in 2004. Seventy two vehicles were seized from this same area in 2005.
Soiled baby diapers, empty food containers and water bottles, clothes, human waste and other personal items are just a few of the things left in or near rivers, streams, washes and wildlife and livestock waters. These discards pollute the waters and cause health hazards. The 40 miles of San Pedro River managed by BLM and its tributaries are severely impacted with tons of these items. Trails, rest areas and pick up points also are strewn with heavy concentrations of litter.
Smugglers and illegal immigrants that abandon their cooking and warming fires cause thousands of acres to burn each year, thus creating risks to other immigrants in the area, employees, visitors and fire fighters and the destruction of natural resources. For example, three fires totaling more than 1,500 acres were intentionally set by illegal immigrants in the Sonoran Desert National Monument in 2005. The San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area, Ironwood Forest National Monument, Las Cienegas National Conservation Area and other BLM lands also have been subjected to such fires.
In FY2004, youth groups, volunteers and contractors contributed more than 5,000 hours picking up and disposing of more than 30 tons of trash left by smugglers and illegal immigrants, rehabilitating the illegal routes and pullouts mentioned above, and picking up several hundred discarded tires, building barriers, replacing wire gates with cattle guards, placing signs and planting 250 trees.
Yep, BLM is the group I’m going to hook up with this fall to go on a clean-up mission.
Those willing to volunteer to help pick up trash should call the BLM’s Tucson field office at 258-7200. Those interested in helping ADEQ can call Frank Zadroga, ADEQ’s waste program manager in Tucson, at 628-6951.
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