Thread: Construction on the Border Fence is Going in the Preserve

Construction on the Border Fence is Going in the Southmost Preserve

Reported by: Manuel De La Rosa
Last Update: 12:09 am

BROWNSVILLE - The Southmost Preserve sits on about 1000 acres of lush land in Brownsville.

It's home to hundreds of Sabal Palm Trees and is one of only two protected forests in Texas.

The border fence is being built right through part of it.

Preserve manager Maxwell Pons worries the fence is jeopardizing the wildlife.

Large openings in the fence right now are helping animals come back and forth, but those openings will be closed.

"What I have seen and I don't get much opportunity to walk and look at it, there are tracks coming from it. I have seen coyotes move through these holes," says Pons.

Another concern for Pons is the preserves brushline.

About 300 Sabal Palms had to be moved to build the fence.

More than half were replanted on the preserve. The removal of the trees has impacted some of the birds and other habitat.

Pons says they didn't have a choice with the border fence and have adapted. The same can't be said for the animals who call the preserve home.

http://www.krgv.com/content/news/story/ ... -DUxw.cspx

"Preserve manager Maxwell Pons worries the fence is jeopardizing the wildlife."

I adore wildlife, but let's worry about people first shall we? We need our borders protected. Animals will be fine. Trees can be grown elsewhere.

The ONLY thing that migrates through the area on the ground is Illegal Aliens. The local life can adapt very easily around a fence...

If Buffalo or some other migratory ground animal had to go through there I would be concerned for them but there just isnt these kinds of creatures going back and forth needing a clear path...

Has this guy seen photos of preserves that illegals pass through?

Only 1000 acres? I'm sure the critters will figure out a way to get around it.

Your photo is misleading. Surely everyone here has seen a clothes tree before.

DOH! LOL!

Video @ http://www.krgv.com/mediacenter/local.a ... entriq.net

Final stretch of fence could close Southmost Preserve

April 17, 2010 9:48 PM
By LAURA TILLMAN, The Brownsville Herald

Max Pons sees more wildlife in one day than most people see in months.

On Friday, Pons watched Black-bellied Whistling Ducks as they conducted reconnaissance to find the best place to build a nest.

He saw Altimira Orioles gathering food, walked along a stretch of sunflowers, Texas thistle, prickly poppies, and guinea grass, and kneeled down to pluck a sample of pepper grass as Indigo Buntings whipped through the air.

While many South Texans manage to get out to the area’s wildlife refuges a few days a month or year, Pons considers it a privilege to call The Nature Conservancy Southmost Preserve his workplace and his home for 18 years.

But after a court order granting possession of 8.31 acres of the land to the U.S. government for construction of 1.5 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border fence, Pons’ idyllic home may be no more. About 95 percent of the Nature Conservancy’s property will fall south of the fence, including one of the last two protected Sabal Palm groves in the United States.

As caretaker of the property, Pons’ home will fall behind the fence, along with the conservancy’s nursery.

“The border wall causes several unique damages and problems for the conservancy, including dangers to protected and rare species,â€