Sabal Palm Preserve and the Rio Grande Border Fence - 4/8/2008




Images and text copyright © Phil Jeffrey 2008 Posted on NYSBirds-L on April 8th:

On Tue, Apr 8, 2008 at 2:35 PM, Phil Jeffrey  wrote:
> Some of you may have noticed written and multimedia articles in the NY
>  Times recently:
>  
>   http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/07/us/07land.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
>   http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2008/04/05/us/20080407LAND_FEATURE.html#section1
>  
>  about the plans to essentially wall off the preserve from the rest of
>  the US.  An analogy is made with fencing off Central Park.  And from a
>  birder's perspective this is not far from the truth.  Construction of
>  the fence is being pushed irrespective  the usual checks that guard
>  against pointless environmental destruction.
>  
>  I'm fairly sure that many list members will have visited this preserve
>  and know how special it is, and many also will be aware of the border
>  fence plans along the lower Rio Grande Valley, at least in outline.
>  Sabal Palm is probably the single most evident example of the sort of
>  things that are going on down there, however places like Anzalduas SP
>  are also slated to be cut off by this fence, along with many other
>  segments of the Rio Grande NWR.  The recent waiver of environmental
>  reviews (see http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/02/us/02fence.html?fta=y)
>  has made the prospect of the fence more immediate.
>  
>  Some more enlightened members of Congress are starting to challenge
>  this decision:
>  http://borderambassadors.com/wordpress/?p=47
>  and many of them are from outside TX - some indeed from NY state.  I'd
>  ask all of you who share my dismay at this fence to write to your
>  representatives to urge them to play their part, or we may damage and
>  lose irreplaceable chunks of what is one of the most interesting
>  birding areas in the country.
>  
>  Phil Jeffrey
>  Princeton, NJ
>  (For maps, go to:
>  http://www.borderfencenepa.com/wp-content/uploads/rgv-deis_appendix-f.pdf
>  )
Phil Jeffrey, April 2008.