Bootheel residents, ranchers want planned Border Patrol base moved

By Diana M. Alba
Posted: 09/18/2011 09:46:03 PM MDT


ANIMAS - A caravan of vehicles wound its way along the ranchland dirt roads of southern New Mexico's Bootheel region, stirring up clouds of dust amid desert grasslands and otherwise clear turquoise sky.

The dirt routes aren't usually as well-traveled. But on this recent day, a convoy of curious and concerned borderland residents - a few of whom traveled two or three hours to get here - were on a mission to see firsthand the source of an ongoing border controversy.

The debate revolves around where exactly to build a new U.S. Border Patrol substation of sorts - called a forward operating base - somewhere in the Animas Valley. The project, which gained serious momentum after the 2010 murder of a southeastern Arizona rancher, is aimed at curbing illegal immigration, including drug and human traffickers, that was pushed to the remote area, as border security has tightened in adjacent sections.

The two sites at the heart of the commotion are just 13 miles apart, as the crow flies.

But to a vocal group of ranchers and other Hidalgo County residents, there's a world of difference.

The tour - spearheaded by a few ranchers who live closest to the proposed locations - headed first to the spot that's favored by the U.S. Border Patrol.

South from Animas on County Road 001, with the low horizon of the Peloncillo Mountains to the right and the towering Animas Peak to the left, the pavement ended. But the 20 vehicles continued on, past yuccas and desert scrub, through a few verdant washes, finally turning west at a lonely sign marking the entrance to the Klump Ranch and onto Horse Camp Drive, a dirt track that wound west into a broad, dry wash.

The caravan of vehicles eventually stopped at parcel just west of land that's part of Levi Klump's ranch, and people filed out. Just past a barbed-wire fence, small plastic surveying flags mark the 10 acres identified as the "preferred alternative" in a draft environmental review released in July. The site is located on land owned by the Diamond "A" Ranch, a major landholder in southern Hidalgo County. The Border Patrol would lease land from the ranch, if the site is selected.

Klump pointed out a concern he's cited previously: that the preferred site is in a draw, which is fed by two other arroyos. He said each can carry significant amounts of water during a storm. And though he's never seen both flow at the same time, it's a possibility, he said.

Border residents are quick to point out the locale is not as visible as the second location under consideration, located seven miles from the border off Battalion Road, another dirt path.

"There are specific items material to the placement of the FOB that have not been adequately considered," he said.

Border Patrol officials have said the base is needed because now, agents must drive about two hours, one-way, from the nearest Border Patrol headquarters in Lordsburg to reach the border, which cuts into their daily patrol time.

The base, regardless of which site is selected, will hold a heliport, horse corrals and modular buildings capable of housing up to 16 federal agents, who'll stay for short-term spans, according to the environmental review.

Back on the tour, participants filed back into their vehicles for a trip farther south to Cloverdale, a border community from the history books that's now marked by a single dilapidated schoolhouse. The path of a Mexican highway, which parallels the border, and its cut through a mountain range were visible in the distance to the southeast. A few miles north was the second proposed site, located on federal land at the base of a small peak. It overlooked a broad plain, which ranchers said makes it ideal as an outlook spot. It's also visible to traffickers and would act as a deterrent, they said.

Despite other differences between the two locations, the biggest is the proximity of the Battalion Road site to the international boundary, said Meria Gault, a rancher who lives in the area.

"The most important thing to us is to be close to the border," she said. "Because there's no way that people from the other side will not see them."

Border Patrol spokesman Demetrio Guerra said last week that the agency will issue a decision on the placement of the forward operating base once two agency officials sign off on a document, called a "finding of no significant impact," that's part of the environmental review.

"The public's comments are currently being reviewed and compiled to formulate a decision," he said in an email. "Once the final (environmental assessment) has been signed, it reflects that Customs and Border Protection has made a final decision on the preferred site."

Continued Guerra: "As a result, the public will receive responses to their comments at the same time that CBP issues its decision in the final (environmental assessment)."

Klump said the Border Patrol to date doesn't seem to have given residents' concerns much weight. But he noted that a public comment period on the environmental document just wrapped up.

"We're very hopeful those comments will be considered," he said.

Residents said they've been told by the Border Patrol that a final decision on the placement will be made at the El Paso Sector level. The sector covers two west Texas counties and all of New Mexico's border.

The Border Patrol refused to release statistics about immigrant apprehensions and drug seizures to date this year in New Mexico. The trend in the sector has been declining numbers from year to year, which officials have said is due to more manpower and better technology.

However, federal officials acknowledged a year ago that the southwest corner of New Mexico was the weakest point in the state's border security. And the forward operating base, along with another in Antelope Wells, was meant to address that.

Hidalgo County Commissioner Ed Kerr, who attended the tour, said he doesn't like the Border Patrol's preferred location.

"It's an obvious, no-brainer for me that the site should be on Battalion Road, for access, for safety to citizens, for a long-term, projected outlook," he said. "The other, Horse Camp Road site is a hidden cove in a flood-prone area. It's almost like we're trying to hide from the enemy."

Klump said the number of people who attended the Sept. 9 borderland tour was "impressive, because it's not easy to get out here."

"Anybody who comes here is not just passing through," he said. "They came because they're concerned."

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