If a proposed 15-foot-tall triple barrier is built between the United States and Mexico, illegal immigrants may have to take a tip from The Odyssey to
get across.
That's assuming measures are taken to safeguard the crossing of the endangered peninsular ranges bighorn sheep, whose survival could be threatened by
the wall.
In Washington earlier this month, a legislative rider attached to the 2007 defense appropriations bill by Sen. John Kyl, R-Ariz., calls for spending
$2 billion to construct the 370-mile-long wall.
The bighorns, which inhabit parts of the San Bernardino National Forest and thrive on Mount San Jacinto, migrate across the border to mate with herds
in Baja California. It fortifies the gene pool enhancing survival of the breed.
"If the California herds are isolated from herds in Mexico, repopulation and genetic flow in both herds will be affected," said Daniel Patterson,
desert ecologist with the Center for Biological Diversity.
"It caught many people by surprise," said Melissa Waage, legislative director for the biological center. "A lot of people are concerned about
fragmentation of wildlife habitat in the area."
Attempts to reach Kyl's staff spokesmen in Washington last week were unsuccessful.
The proposed steel barrier would be "a monumental environmental disaster that will not stem illegal immigration," Patterson added. Besides the
peninsular bighorn, the wall would block critical migration routes for other wildlife, including the cactus pygmy owl, Sonoran pronghorn, flat-tailed
horned lizard, Mexican gray wolves and the secretive and elusive jaguar.
The U.S.-Mexican border is a political line that divides what is essentially one environmental region the occupies large areas in both nations, the
conservation group Defenders of Wildlife notes in a report on border activities.
"Many activities, including illegal immigration and U.S. border enforcement have enormous impacts on the region's wildlife, landscape and economy,"
said Jamie Rappaport Clark, the organization's executive vice president.
"National security comes first," she added. "But proposed border construction projects, including large-scale fence building, have the potential to
severely harm wildlife ...
"Lawmakers advancing immigration and border proposals can and should take into account the effect of these proposals on our nation's wildlife, parks
and refuges and work to minimize any damage."
Clark said innovative designs for projects should be used to lessen their environmental impact, new legislation should consider the need to protect
the region's natural heritage, and activities of the Border Patrol should include environmental safeguards.
Jane Hendron, spokeswoman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said it is too early to speculate about the potential impact of a border wall on
wildlife migration.
"Agencies proposing projects like this are required to consult with us to find ways to minimize and offset any impacts on wildlife," she pointed out.
"If it's determined the project will affect listed species, we will look at ways to minimize these impacts."
In 1998, Fish and Wildlife listed the peninsular bighorn as an endangered species after their numbers dropped from 2,400 in 1971 to 280 in 1997.
"They are slowly recovering, and now number about 700," Patterson said. "They range from Mount San Jacinto through the Santa Rosa Mountains to the
south end of the Coachella Valley. If the herd is isolated from sheep in Mexico, their recovery will become more difficult."
About 845,000 acres, extending from the San Bernardino National Forest to the Mexican border, was designated in 2001 as critical habitat for the
peninsular bighorn, Patterson said.
"But with the proposed wall, their very survival is threatened," he said.
Michel Finkelstein, executive director of the biological center, said these creatures need to cross their borderland habitat and construction of the
wall would crush their ability to survive.
Calling the barrier "a new Berlin Wall," he said President Reagan admonished Soviet leader Mikal Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall in 1987, but
now American legislators have launched a move to build a similar barrier along the Mexican border.
Said Patterson, "The only living things the wall won't stop is people. It's a moral low-point for America when the government moves to destroy nature
and wall us off from a friendly neighbor."
Through the Endangered Species Act, the peninsular bighorn is recovering in numbers, he said, and "we don't want to see it set back."
What's all this got to do with Homer's Odyssey, one may ask.
One of the perils faced by Odysseus and his men returning from the Trojan War was their capture by the Cyclops, a one-eyed monster who imprisoned them
in his cave.
Wanting to get home to the wife and kids, Odysseus blinded and tricked him. When the Cyclops let his sheep out to graze, his captives clung to the
undersides of the woolly ovines as the sightless monster only touched their backs.
Today, Defenders of Wildlife calls for setting aside funds for environmental programs within the Border Patrol as a part of efforts toward immigration
reform.
"The shared environments of the United States and Mexico require effective and coordinated cross-border management of wildlife and other natural
resources," the wildlife group said in its report on border protection.
So if the way is cleared for wildlife crossings, would-be human immigrants unable to gain legal entry had better start perfecting their sheep-hanging
skills.woody with a view - 8-14-2006 at 04:35 PM
i seem to remember last winter read about the american herd had pneumonia and it was killing them. the biologists were terrified the two herds would
be decimated if they co-mingled......
now they don't want them seperated? what's the flavor next month???Bruce R Leech - 8-14-2006 at 06:41 PM
let then get green cards like every one elseelgatoloco - 8-15-2006 at 07:31 AM
The wall will not stop the humans. It is another bullchit waste of money. The politicians are grandstanding. They should spend the money on curing the
pnuemonia in the bighorns.
$2 billion. What a fricking joke.
It's a LOT funnier joke...
neilmac - 8-15-2006 at 07:49 AM
Quote:
Originally posted by elgatoloco
$2 billion. What a fricking joke.
If you're the fence contractor... maybe a friend of Kyl's?
Neil
Build The Wall
MrBillM - 8-15-2006 at 07:52 AM
Use WHATEVER enforcement procedures are necessary to secure the border.
The Bighorns won't be missed, especially since they aren't a food or domestic labor source. We've got enough photos to remember them by. Bye Bye
Bighorn.Paula - 8-15-2006 at 08:18 AM
To get over a 15 foot wall you just need a 16 foot ladder. So I think the wall will be more effective in keeping out the sheepBruce R Leech - 8-15-2006 at 08:22 AM
Quote:
Originally posted by Paula
To get over a 15 foot wall you just need a 16 foot ladder. So I think the wall will be more effective in keeping out the sheep
I think I could do it with a 14 foot ladder. but I still think the wall is a good startThe Sculpin - 8-15-2006 at 08:24 AM
It would be far cheaper and much more effective to just lay land mines accross the border. That would deter human migration, but the bighorn could
just pass on through since it's hard to lay a land mile on a vertical surface!!!
ok,ok,ok...just kidding.......sheeesh......
Just a Thought, BUT.....................
MrBillM - 8-15-2006 at 08:25 AM
Isn't it the same group of people who say that we haven't got the technology and resources available to prevent low-skill, uneducated migrants from
crossing our border that are also critical of the U.S. government for not utilizing our technology and intelligence to hunt down Usama and the Bad
Boys ?
Right ON, Mr Bill M---------
Barry A. - 8-15-2006 at 08:38 AM
----you took those words right out of my head.
The Big Horn will probably survive anyway, and if not, then it is "their time".
