Border overgrowth threatens SBInet planning
International Boundary Commission reports severe problems with vegetation obstructing the northern border line; officials will meet in Washington this week to lobby Congress for more funding
Weed-whackers take note. America’s 5,525-mile northern border is so overrun with shrubbery that Boeing may have a hard time locating the proper place to implement its new SBInet contract. Responsibility for maintaining the border rests with the International Boundary Commission, but the commission, consisting of two commissioners (one from each country), seven field engineers and a small support staff, says its $3 million budget is inadequate for the task. “I’ve talked and talked, and we don’t seem to be getting anywhere,” U.S. commissoner Dennis Schornack said. “Yes, it’s not glamorous. It’s not high-tech. It’s chain saws and weed whackers. But if you don’t get that basic job done, all I know is cameras won’t work.” The worst overgrowth, the commission reports, lies in the regions between Washington state and British Columbia, and between New England and Quebec and New Brunswick.
Schornack will meet with his Canadian counterparts in Washington, D.C. this week to lobby homeland security officials and members of Congress to lobby more funding. Canadian officials, for their part, believe the U.S. could contribute more to the commision. The U.S. gave $1.43 million this fiscal year, compared to $2.2 million Canada contributed. As a point of comparison, the U.S. gave $33 million to the International Boundary and Water Commission, which oversees maintenance of the border with Mexico.
-read more in David Sharp’s AP report
