The Arizona Chapter of
The Wildlife Society
"Excellence in Wildlife Stewardship through Science and Education"

The New Mexico Chapter of TWS is hosting a workshop to discuss wildlife issues along the border between Mexico and New Mexico.  The meeting will have an update of border activities and a mix of environmental groups, Congressionals, and agencies, including a representative of Mexico.  The New Mexico Chapter plans to develop a resolution concerning wildlife issues and send it to congressional representatives.  The NM Chapter invites AZ Chapter members to attend the workshop.  The NM Chapter is also proposing a joint resolution from all the chapters (at least Texas, New Mexico and Arizona) and would welcome input from AZ members.  If any AZ TWS members can attend, please report back to the AZ TWS Board on the workshop.  We appreciate your input.

THE NEW MEXICO CHAPTER OF THE WILDIFE SOCIETY PRESENTS:

The first annual summer workshop

Border-Wildlife Issues

Tuesday July 8, 2008

8:00 am to 5:00 pm

At the New Mexico Farm and Ranch Museum

Las Cruces, NM

For directions to the museum see: http://www.nmfarmandranchmuseum.org

The workshop will focus on:

•           reviewing the issues of border security and their impacts on wildlife

•           discussing legislation

•           presenting wildlife data collection along the border

•           developing recommendations for regulatory compliance, research, and monitoring with the goal of proposing defensible alternatives and mitigation strategies

•           developing a resolution to be sent to our elected officials

Peter David, Treasurer for the NM Chapter, is organizing the workshop.  If you plan to attend, please contact Peter David at pdavid@swca.com

505-254-1115

Below is the draft resolution to be considered. 

The Wildlife Society – New Mexico Chapter

Wildlife-Border Issues Workshop

July 8, 2008

Resolution on the US-Mexico Border Fence Impacts to Wildlife

WHEREAS, The Wildlife Society- New Mexico Chapter is an organization of 200 biologists, resource managers and other professionals in New Mexico concerned about the regional issues affecting indigenous plants and animals in the American Southwest and who strongly support their conservation based on sound and accurate scientific knowledge; and,

WHEREAS, we are disturbed by potential negative environmental impacts of the Secure Fence Act of 2006 which mandates the US Department of Homeland Security to construct 3 - 4 m high steel fences along large sections of the US-Mexico border, stretching from near San Diego, California, to Brownsville, Texas, totaling over 1,280 km; and,

WHEREAS, Section 102(c) of the Real ID Act of 2005 exempts the Department of Homeland Security from all federal, state, and local environmental laws when constructing fences, roads, and other barriers along US borders, including the Endangered Species Act and National Environmental Policy Act; and,

WHEREAS, fence construction has progressed without substantive consideration, study or subsequent mitigation for environmental effects; and,

WHEREAS, plans to complete the fence before 2009 have been expedited (Segee and Neeley 2006); and,

WHEREAS, the US-Mexico borderlands is a region of high biological diversity, including many rare, threatened, and endangered species; and,

WHEREAS, major regions along the US-Mexico border are comprised of federal protected lands that provide essential habitat for wildlife, including Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge, Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge, Coronado National Forest, San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area, San Bernardino National Wildlife Refuge, Big Bend National Park, Rio Grande Wild and Scenic River, Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge, and Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge in the United States, and the El Pinacate Biosphere, Santa Elena Canyon Flora and Fauna Protection Area, and Maderas del Carmen Flora and Fauna Protection Area in Mexico; and,

WHEREAS, construction of the fence will directly destroy rare and endangered plants (Cohn 2007); and,

WHEREAS, the US-Mexico boundary is an arbitrary division in relation to the natural world; and,

WHEREAS, wildlife species in the arid southwest are dependent upon ephemeral water sources and more importantly permanent water locations to persist in such a harsh climate, and permanent separation from these sources by an impenetrable barrier may result in the extermination of local populations

WHEREAS, the fence will prohibit movement and dispersal for larger species of terrestrial wildlife, particularly federally endangered mammals such as the jaguar, ocelot, jaguarondi, and Sonoran pronghorn; and,

WHEREAS, many terrestrial species in the borderlands region exist as metapopulations linked by dispersal, which depend on movements across the international border for persistence (e.g., Hellgren et al. 2005, McCain and Childs 2008); and,

WHEREAS, for some species, such as the endangered jaguar, scientific conclusions (McCain and Childs 2008) indicate a dependence on large expanses of habitat and cross-border movement, and that disruption of habitat and movement by the fence will put populations of jaguars in the United States at great risk; and,

WHEREAS, fence construction will irreparably harm many species and some of the Southwest’s most significant lands;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the New Mexico Chapter of the Wildlife Society, convening in a special workshop on July 8, 2008 in Las Cruces, NM, calls upon the Governors of all the border states (those of the U.S. and of Mexico), the U.S. Secretary of the Interior, the Dirección General de Flora y Fauna Silvestres y Áreas Naturales Protegidas de México, the Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Secretary for Homeland Security to consider and mitigate potential negative impacts of the border fence to wildlife and issue a moratorium on further construction to allow for study and the recommendations of viable alternatives to an impenetrable barrier.  We further recommend that Congress repeal section 102(c) of the Real ID Act of 2005, and enact the Borderlands Conservation and Security Act (HR 2593) that will require the Department of Homeland Security to determine the effect that a border fence will have on wildlife and to explore alternatives to fence construction, to require compliance with environmental laws, and fund initiatives that help reduce damage to borderland wildlife and resources.

References

Borderlands Conservation and Security Act.  2007.  House of Representative bill 2593.  June, 6 2007.  http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/t2GPO/http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=110_cong_bills&docid=f:h2593ih.txt.pdf.  Accessed 6 March 2008.

Cohn, J.P.  2007.  The environmental impacts of a border fence.  BioScience, 57:96.

Hellgren, E.C., D. P. Onorato, and J. R. Skiles.  2005.  Dynamics of a black bear population within a desert metapopulation.  Biological Conservation, 122:131-140.

McCain, E.B., and J.L. Childs.  2008.  Evidence of resident jaguars (Panthera onca) in the southwestern United Sates and the implications for conservation.  Journal of Mammalogy, 89:1-10.

Real ID Act.  2005.  Public Law 109-13.  May 11, 2005, Real ID Act, 8 U.S.C. 1101.  http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/toGPObss/http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=109_cong_public_laws&docid=f:publ013.109.pdf.  Accessed 6 March 2008.

Secure Fence Act.  2006.  Public Law 109-367.  October 26, 2006, Secure Fence Act, 8 U.S.C. 1103.  http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/toGPObss/http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=109_cong_public_laws&docid=f:publ367.109.pdf.  Accessed 6 March 2008.

Segee, B.P., and J.L. Neely.  2006.  On the line: the impacts of immigration policy on wildlife and habitat in the Arizona borderlands.  Defenders of Wildlife, Washington, D.C.