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BISBEE — The U.S. government recently issued a plan that analyzes and documents the environmental consequences associated with a proposed fencing project in Cochise County along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Customs and Border Protection plans to construct, operate and maintain about six miles of primary pedestrian fence, vehicle fence, a staging area, a construction/maintenance road, access roads and improvements to existing roads.
The project will begin on the western edge of the San Pedro River and extend westward into the National Park Service’s Coronado National Memorial.
“CBP followed specially developed design criteria to reduce adverse environmental impacts and will implement mitigation measures to further reduce or offset adverse environmental impacts,” states the Environmental Stewardship Plan.
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A biological monitor will be present during construction to make sure that best management practices and mitigation plans are followed regarding the effects on vegetation resources and threatened and endangered species.
According to the plan, the project will have minimal impacts on vegetation resources. But a National Park Service survey from April showed about 3,700 agave may be affected due to construction activities.
Officials will avoid areas containing columnar cactuses or agaves when practicable. About 1,500 agaves will be salvaged and transplanted, and seeds from 50 agave will be harvested and supplied to the National Park Service.
The plan states that loss of aquatic resources as a result of the project may result in a major impact to the overall viability of species. But officials anticipate wildlife populations will benefit as a result of protecting the habitat from illegal immigrant traffic.
Efforts will be made to avoid migratory bird nests. The use of Normandy-style fence within wash and floodplain areas will allow for flowing of flood water and opportunities for cross-border migration. Steep walled holes or trenches will be covered or equipped with ramps to prevent wildlife from getting trapped.
The plan states seven threatened and endangered species may exist within the project corridor. Major impacts on the Huachuca water umbel, yellow billed cuckoo and jaguar may occur due to reductions in surface flow of the San Pedro River.
“If a federally protected species is found within the project corridor, all construction activities will cease within the immediate vicinity,” the plan states.
Matt Clark, southwest representative of Defenders of Wildlife, said the Environmental Stewardship Plan recognizes the fact that animals larger than the small gaps provided will not be able to migrate and access habitat because of the walls. Animals that will be negatively impacted include deer, cougar, javelina, black bear, jaguar and ocelot.
“To secure the border in this sensitive area, the Border Patrol should be using remote surveillance technology, increased patrols and vehicle barriers instead of damaging and ineffective walls. This alternative approach would enable improved security while also allowing for wildlife to move freely across the border,” he states in an e-mail to the Herald/Review.
“The ESP falsely claims that the wall will reduce illegal traffic in the San Pedro River corridor and in the Huachuca Mountains. We anticipate the opposite effect — walls will redirect and funnel more human traffic and enforcement activities into the river corridor and around the wall into the mountains — substantially increasing impacts to these ecologically diverse and fragile areas,” he adds.
Last year, Defenders of Wildlife and Sierra Club, another conservation group, filed suit to stop border fence construction in the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area until an assessment could be made on the impact on wildlife. A federal judge granted the restraining order.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff then invoked his power under the REAL ID Act last year to waive certain laws to allow for fence construction to continue. Sierra Club and Defenders of Wildlife challenged the power that gave him that ability. The groups lost the case in federal court, and then the Supreme Court refused to hear it.
Clark said a similar suit has been filed in Texas that challenges the constitutional nature of Chertoff’s decision this year to impose a blanket waiver of environmental and land management laws along 470 miles of border. That case is currently pending in federal court.
“Although the secretary has exercised the authority vested in him by Congress, DHS and CBP remain committed to building tactical infrastructure in an environmentally responsible manner,” the Environmental Stewardship Plan states.
Al Garza, national executive director of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, a border watch group that has been urging the U.S. government to build the fence, said he supports the plan.
“The fence is definitely a requirement, and that is what we have been fighting for,” he said during a phone interview. “Border security means fencing, virtual fencing, monitors, whatever it takes, but we must secure the border at all costs. We have no other choice.”
To obtain a copy of the environmental stewardship plan for the project, visit www.borderfenceplanning.com.
JONATHON SHACAT can be reached at 515-4693 or by e-mail at jonathon.shacat@bisbeereview.net.
first svian wrote on Aug 20, 2008 4:28 PM: