Thread: TX-Conservationists warn of border fence's impact

Conservationists warn of border fence's impact

August 22, 2008 - 4:22PM
By Christopher Sherman, Associated Press Writer
MISSION (AP) - The Bush administration's recently proposed changes to rules involving endangered species could lead to projects like the fence being built along the U.S.-Mexico border that could threaten endangered wildlife, the Sierra Club warned Friday.

"We're talking about animals already pushed to the brink of extinction," Liz Walsh, chairwoman of the group's endangered species committee, said at a news conference near a border fence construction site.

The Rio Grande Valley ranks third in the country in terms of the number of endangered and threatened species, and habitat loss poses one of the area's biggest threats. The border fence will destroy habitat and make it harder to maintain the numbers for a variety of animals, including endangered large cats such as the ocelot and jaguarundi.

The group drew parallels between the April 1 waiver of dozens of environmental and cultural preservation laws by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to speed border fence construction and the rule changes proposed this month that would no longer require government scientists to weigh in on the impact to endangered species from projects such as highways and dams.

Michael Degnan, a Sierra Club representative from Washington, D.C., said the border wall was a "very compelling example" of what can happen when rigorous scientific study of potential impacts is not required.

The new changes unveiled last week by the U.S. Department of the Interior would apply to any project a federal agency would fund, build or authorize that the agency itself determines is unlikely to harm endangered wildlife and their habitat.

The revisions also would limit which effects can be considered harmful and set a 60-day deadline for wildlife experts to evaluate a project when they are asked to become involved. If no decision is made within 60 days, the project can move ahead. Agencies could not consider global warming in their analysis.

After Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff waived the normal process of environmental analysis for the border fence, the agency produced Environmental Stewardship Plans that officials said reflected a commitment to limiting the project's impact.

The agency maintained that much of the environmental study was still taking place, but that the waivers just allowed it to get started before the studies were concluded.

A plan for the Rio Grande Valley portion of the border fence noted that hundreds of small holes will be built into the fence so that small animals can move through the barrier.

Still, the plan said government contractors will clear about 508 acres of land in the Rio Grande Valley.

Despite the access holes for the endangered cats, the plan acknowledged that the fence "will likely impact wildlife movement, access to traditional water sources, and potential for gene flow" because some of the species cross the border into Mexico to mate.


http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/news/w ... nists.html

"We're talking about animals already pushed to the brink of extinction,"


You mean legal residents and US citizens, right Liz?

I am sure that instead of a border fence, wildlife probably just loves roaming through broken glass, plastic bottles and other trash left behind by the illegals.

Environmentalists have uphill battle
Homeland Security waives protection laws for border fence
By LYNN BREZOSKY
San Antonio Express-news
Aug. 24, 2008, 11:15PM

MISSION — A skyline of construction cranes for Texas' first phase of the border fence loomed less than a mile away as Sierra Club representatives from around the nation recently pleaded for attention to its impact on one of the most diverse ecological systems on the planet.

But actually stopping the Department of Homeland Security's border barrier is likely a lost battle, so the environmentalists hope it will resonate as a symbol of legal environmental protections they say are quietly being ceded by the Bush administration.

Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne on Aug. 11 announced a proposal for "narrow changes" to the Endangered Species Act aimed at preventing it from being used to regulate greenhouse gas emissions blamed for global warming.

Environmentalists see the proposed changes as a step toward allowing the building of dams, highways or other projects in ways that harm wildlife.

"These rules send a clear signal that the administration will spend the rest of its days razing what remains of the rules and regulations that have kept wildlife like the bald eagle from going extinct," Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope said.

Federal agencies must consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service or the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration before moving forward with projects that could affect endangered species.

Environmentalists are still smarting over the Homeland Security secretary's use of his authority to waive 37 environmental laws to expedite construction of the border fence. Efforts failed to challenge the constitutionality of the waivers in the U.S. Supreme Court.

Allen D. McReynolds, who was a member of President Clinton's team of environmental advisers, called the waiver and the subsequent rule change "tragic."

"This means any time there is a new federal construction project, well, NEPA (the National Environmental Policy Act) will be waived and there'll be no environmental review," he said.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/hea ... 63966.html