Border clearing ongoing, but county sheriff wants more done
BY JEFFREY GAUTREAUX, SUN STAFF WRITER
April 16, 2007 - 10:02PM

Yuma County Sheriff Ralph Ogden said his hollering, stamping feet and letter-writing have led to some results in clearing a few hundred acres of brush along the southern border. He is hoping for thousands more.

The clearing of non-native vegetation, such as salt cedar and arrow weed, between the Colorado River and the levee aims to decrease illegal activity by improving surveillance. Ogden briefed the Yuma County Board of Supervisors about the issue Monday.

"You can have all the cameras in the world, but if all you're looking at is brush, you can't see anything until the guy is right in front of you," he said.

Clearing has already been done in recent days on a small section near County 12-7/8 Street and a larger section west of Gadsden. Ogden said clearing was ongoing at an area known as Hunter's Hole, which is between County 21st and County 21-1/2 streets.

Bureau of Land Management spokeswoman Lori Cook said the federal agency is paying for the clearing of 214 acres by using Bureau of Reclamation employees and equipment. She said the agency has a "categorical exclusion" that allows them to clear brush until April 30.

"We have to be done then because of the Southwestern willow flycatcher," she said. The small bird was put on the endangered species list in 1995 because of loss of its natural habitat.

According to federal law, a categorical exclusion means "a category of actions which do not individually or cumulatively have a significant effect on the human environment ... and ... for which, therefore, neither an environmental assessment nor an environmental impact statement is required."

At the end of April, Cook said BLM will start an environmental assessment on the rest of the area, which could lead to further clearing.

Ogden's goal is to clear the entire border from Morelos Dam to San Luis - a total of 5,200 acres which includes federal, tribal and private land - but further federal authorization is needed to do that. He said it would also decrease the wildfire risk and improve flood control.

Previous clearing projects have been done on the border, but Ogden said some have not been maintained. He said the clearing leaves native plants like cottonwoods and willows.

In a letter to Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff, Ogden advocated having Chertoff waive certain environmental regulations to speed the clearing. The DHS secretary has the authority to waive certain rules to expedite border projects under the Real ID Act of 2005.

Environmental groups have criticized this change to the law, and Congressman Raul Grijalva opposed passage of the Real ID bill for this reason. "Trampling on the laws that protect our environment and building walls between ourselves and Mexico are no solution to this crisis," Grijalva said in a news release.

For the past two years, Ogden said YCSO deputies have regularly responded to the area for armed robberies, sexual assaults, shootings and other criminal incidents. Yuma sector Border Patrol spokesman Lloyd Easterling said the brush increases the number of agent assaults and border banditry incidents along the border.

"Clearing the brush would go a long way toward making it safer both for the illegal aliens who are crossing the border and for agents on patrol," he said.

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