Border securityEndangered antelope interferes with Arizona border security
Environmental concerns and border security clash along the U.S.-Mexico border; the wild Sonoran Pronghorn numbers are down to about 80 in Arizona and they occupy less than 10 percent of their original range — but what is left of their range straddles the border; environmentalists and government stewards of the environment object to the erection of a fence or watch towers, saying they would drive the antelope-like creature to extinction
The Sonoran Pronghorn antelope prevents CBP agents from expanding their coverage areas // Source: thedailygreen.com
If not for an elusive, antelope-like creature in the Arizona desert, DHS might have a much easier time cracking down on illegal immigration in hotbeds along the border. The Sonoran Pronghorn, which roams in Arizona, is an endangered species on the verge of extinction. As a result, environmentalists and governmental stewards have been repeatedly blocking Customs and Border Protection (CBP) from expanding border technology in their habitat — despite complaints that illegal immigrants are taking advantage of the security gap and doing plenty of harm to the environment in the process.
Fox News’s Judson Berger writes that concerns about a host of species for decades have prompted standoffs between border and environmental officials. Border officers have limited access to federal lands in some of the most heavily trafficked areas because of the harm the patrols could do to the environment. Pronghorn preservation, however, is popping up more and more as a barrier to Border Patrol and catching the attention of some on Capitol Hill.
“The pronghorn can literally shut down production,” said a Republican aide on the House Natural Resources Committee. “It could literally stop a project … in its tracks.”
A 2008 letter from the Fish and Wildlife Service obtained by FoxNews.com showed that the agency rejected a CBP plan to install seven towers throughout the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge because of concerns it would lead to Sonoran Pronghorn extinction. The towers would have been part of the virtual border fence project that was partially suspended this year but is still underway in the area surrounding Cabeza.
DHS is still fighting to install just one communications tower in the refuge, but continues to be met by objections from environmentalists. The Border Patrol has committed millions of dollars to various environmental projects meant to offset any potential damage, but critics argue that the species is too sensitive to bear the intrusion.
They describe the potential damage from the sensor towers as insidious. George Nickas, director of Wilderness Watch, said the “human presence” necessary to build and maintain the towers would impact the environment.
He said that if the tower helps crack down on illegal immigrant traffic, that traffic could be “diverted” to prime pronghorn habitat. “They always end up causing a lot of unintended consequences,” he said. “I don’t know which straw will break the camel’s back, so to speak, but I do think what’s happening will incrementally lead to more and more difficulties.”
Wilderness Watch
