Triple Border Fence

"Speak Up Against the Border Fence"

"The grading will remove or impact the habitat for twelve species of rare plants. There are no suitable mitigation sites left in San Diego for these coastal species, because of development...."

Coalition Statement - An Offense to the Peoples of the San Diego/Tijuana Region

May 9, 2008 - You know it is just really odd the way a lot of people are so concerned about the destruction of brush in and around San Diego, yet nobody really seems to care that vital coastal sage habitat will be completely destroyed and 3.3 million cubic yards of dirt dumped in a canyon next to the border.  No protests, gosh no that wouldn't be politically incorrect.  No care that Agave shawii would be destroyed, oh no.  Wake up and smell the fresh dirt!   Plus millions of your tax payer dollars literally washed into the sea.  This is right in your backyard folks.  Drive down to Monument road and have a look at what the National Guard has already done to some of the border land.  If you don't like what you see please write your senators and representatives.   

Speaking of brush.  As of June 15th, all of the coastal sage scrub habitat on top of Lichty Mesa at Border Field State Park is gone.  There are nothing but brush piles on top of the mesa.  The Agave shawii's were removed by Recon thank goodness.  After seeing a beautiful variety of plants up on that mesa during this past spring, it is a complete shock to see nothing now.  No shrubs, no agave's, nothing. 
Keep writing letters to your senators and congressional representatives.  This land is not my land or your land anymore.  If it is the federal governments land to do whatever they want with.   

Sadly to report, we did all get together an hire a lawyer, to which CNPS-SD contributed a substantial amount of our funds. Congress ended up passing a law (the Real ID act) that waived all laws standing in the way of a "barrier construction anywhere on the United States border". Every Senator voted for it, despite attempts by many environmental groups to educate them on the effects in San Diego.
Read about the Real ID act  at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_id_act 

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security recently decided to waive more than 30 critical environmental and public health laws, including the Endangered Species Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, and the Safe Drinking Water Act, to construct a border fence that will jeopardize the economy, quality of life, and environment of communities throughout Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California. The construction of a fence in this region would directly impact critical wildlife habitat for endangered species such as the ocelot, and block the area's only reliable source of water for wildlife, the Rio Grande.
Please join me in signing a petition to stop this misguided fence! If you go to the web address below you can check out what is at stake and add your name to the petition.
Please sign this Audubon petition now by going to
http://audubonaction.org/campaign/sabalpalm?rk=-dBMLUK1p537W

There is a coalition of organizations that is working to get the triple fence stopped.  It can't hurt, and it might help.  It is too important not to try.
Bob Filner's office wants to try to stop it.  It would be good for people to send letters expressing urgency to Bob Filner and to Susan Davis, especially if they live in their districts and Senators Boxer and Feinstein.   The coalition is trying to put together a media event showing the impacts of the damage so far and what the remaining construction will do.   
The fact that upgrading the single fence, in a way that follows the existing land contours, would do about the same thing as the triple fence, would cost a lot less, and would have much less environmental damage should make sense to most people. The reason that the triple fence has taken so long to get constructed is that it is the wrong design.   The current build-it-without-thinking process needs to stop so realistic analysis and tradeoffs can be conducted.  The Coastal Commission's analysis and decision to oppose the fence was very reasonable.  The Federal Government's decision to build it in spite of its shortcomings is not.   
Apparently the Congressional actions no longer mandate that the inappropriate triple fence be constructed.  INS can build any reasonable measure that they choose.  They are just pretending that the Triple Fence design is a still a mandate so they can build it without wisdom.  Somehow we need to get this information to the public and our "representatives" need to speak out.   
If CNPS people want to work on it, please contact Daniel Watman and John Fanestil, the "cc"s and the organizers of the coalition.  Maybe we can save Smugglers Gulch and Lichty Mesa.
Jim Peugh
San Diego Audubon Society