Critics say U.S.-Mexico border fence could threaten wildlife, cause flooding
The U.S. government is moving forward with plans to build 700 miles of fencing along the Mexican border, but opposition is swelling faster than the Rio Grande after a rainstorm. This week, the International Boundary and Water Commission said the fence could not only cause flooding but could, in effect, redraw the U.S.-Mexico border, which lies in the middle of the river. Oopsy! Farmers are concerned about the project's effects on irrigation, and local businesses fear it will offend Mexican investors and customers. And wildlife advocates worry about the damage it will cause to a 90,000-acre string of refuges, noting that it would block routes that ocelots and other animals use for drinking and mating. (Can't they just build a Hooters for that?) The whole thing, says Carter Smith of The Nature Conservancy, is "incongruous with a 30-plus-year investment by the federal government, the citizens, and the landowners of the Rio Grande Valley who have worked hard to protect their special land and waters."
straight to the source: Houston Chronicle, Associated Press, Lynn Brezosky, 24 May 2007
straight to the source: MSNBC.com, Associated Press, 21 May 2007
see also, in Grist: Immigration scuffles threaten wildlands along U.S.-Mexico border
see also, in Grist: An environmental-justice activist reports from the border
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geobeck Posted 6:46 am
27 May 2007
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HLisa744 Posted 12:58 am
29 Sep 2007
Meanwhile in on August 27th, construction began on a section of the fence near Sasabe, Arizona. Parts of the wall will be built in the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge. Tohono O'odham Nation tribal Chairman Ned Norris Jr. has expressed concern that the project will adversely affect five of the tribe's cultural sites lying in the path of the fence - and that the tribe was not properly consulted.
THERE WAS A ZERO DAY COMMENT PERIOD ON THE ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT.
http://earthmaize.typepad.com/home/2007/09/dont-fence-me- ...
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