No Ecological Assessment: A vehicle barrier under construction along the U.S.- Mexico border in Arizona’s Coronado National Monument. Other barricades are proposed that will permanently fragment north-south movement corridors for endangered species like jaguar, ocelot, and Sonaran Pronghorn

Building a 12-foot-high, solid steel wall along the U.S.-Mexico border in southern Arizona and New Mexico probably won’t put much of a dent in illegal foot traffic, but from the standpoint of a lone, endangered jaguar, attempting to move perilously north to re-colonize its former range in the U.S., it’s the end of the trail.

One of the most difficult tasks in protecting our nation’s border security is convincing elected officials to protect our "ecological security" in the process. It’s also a challenge that the Wildlands Project and its partner Defenders of Wildlife are willing to take on.

By hosting two annual "Border Ecological Symposiums" designed to ratchet up the visibility of ecological concerns associated with border security infrastructure, they have compiled compelling documentation of the ecological problems that already exist as a result of border enforcement activities, and the far greater threats to wildlife that border wall construction will create.

This spring, the two groups will publish the findings of the symposiums, which attracted scores of federal and state agency personnel working on the ground in borderlands protected areas, including national monuments, wilderness areas, national parks, and national wildlife refuges. The process uncovered a clear consensus among a wide range of wildlife management professionals that science-based ecological planning should be a required part of any border security infrastructure planning.

Among the many recommendations included in the publica- Herders in Central Europe accept modest losses from bears and wolves. Traditional pastoral life can benefit wildlife in Romania. tion are: locations of four primary, cross-border wildlife linkages; species that use the linkages; types of compatible infrastructure; mitigation opportunities; alternatives to barrier construction, new "virtual wall" technologies; and the strict adherence to national environmental laws.

The document and an attached news release will be distributed to three primary audiences: national media, elected officials, and agency decision-makers. "We want to do everything we can to bring this issue to the forefront of the planning process," notes Wildlands Project’s Margo McKnight. "National security must be addressed, but that also includes the security of our ecosystems."

Kim Vacariu