May 24, 2008, 9:29PM
Kayakers use border fence to tout river sport
Binational group builds awareness of the Rio Grande


By LYNN BREZOSKY
San Antonio Express-News

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GRANJENO — The rapids created by the Anzalduas Dam were a bit washed out and murky, the steep banks muddy, the air pungent from a recent downpour. But for about a dozen Rio Grande Valley residents on a recent Saturday, kayaking was a thrilling trip of discovery.

"Instead of going all the way to Colorado to go kayaking, you can do it right here," said Cleto Nuno, a 31-year-old business owner from McAllen who came on the trip. "I didn't know. I didn't think it was allowed."

Their guides were members of Los Caminos Del Rio ("Roads of the River"), a binational association using the furor over the Department of Homeland Security's imminent border fencing to build awareness of the river.

Critics of the fence have said the structure will essentially cede the Rio Grande and its U.S. banks to Mexico, along with certain nature sanctuaries, bits of family farms and the occasional historical landmark.

But DHS officials have fought that notion, offering plans of gates with remote controls for riverfront landowners and preserve managers.

"People think, oh, just because we're putting up a wall there, we're changing the international boundary," DHS spokeswoman Laura Keehner said. "That's definitely a false assumption."


Fence can be felt
Enter Los Caminos, with its truckload of kayaks and staff full of dreams.

"Let's get a national park down here, with canoes, and concessions, and music," executive director Eric Ellman said excitedly, leading the group through a section of a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service refuge toward the launching spot.

The wildlife service gave the group a special use permit to access the river through a portion of the Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge, which is a patchwork of tracts along the Rio Grande.

"Basically we're supportive of getting folks out onto the refuge to enjoy it," said Nancy Brown, spokeswoman for the refuge. "We want people out there on kayaks, we want people out there enjoying nature."

It's unclear whether the DHS fence will be visible to river paddlers. Most of the kayaking excursions will be at Anzalduas, as the dam creates whitewater and a park there offers access. From there, the fence will not be visible.

But it will be felt.

"It's psychological," said Nuno. "You'll just know that it's there, that you're on the other side."

Mexican officials have been enthusiastic about promoting the project. At an appointed time, Jeffrey Salcedo, Reynosa's sub-director of commerce, came down to the south bank to greet the paddlers.

"We're interested in anything that can combine tourism, industry, and of course, the practice of sports," Salcedo said.


Extra eyes on the river
Asked about the fence, he sighed.

"We don't see with good eyes the building of that fence," he said "We don't think that is going to resolve the issue of people crossing."

The Border Patrol has been receptive to the project.

Ron Vitiello, chief patrol agent for the Rio Grande Valley sector, wrote to Ellman urging cooperation between agents and the project and expressing interest in having agents participate.

As Ellman sees it, paddlers on the river can be an extra set of eyes for the Border Patrol, a deterrent for those who don't want to be seen.

"This is a 'virtual fence,' " he said, borrowing a Homeland Security term for non-physical barriers such as sensors or radar. "This is eyeballs on the river."

"They talk about boots on the ground; this is paddles on the river."

lbrezosky@express-news.net






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