What’s Missing from the Government’s Border Wall Restoration Plan

U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) recently released a plan for restoration and remediation of public lands damaged by border wall construction in the section near Tucson. Through Thursday, February 3 they’re seeking public input on the plan. Here’s what you need to know if you plan to submit feedback.

The remediation plan is largely to support the border wall infrastructure, and is not to restore the integrity of the land, restore wildlife movement corridors, and allow water to flow freely in the few surface watercourses that exist in this arid region. What we should all be most concerned about is the filling of gaps in the border wall and the construction of small wildlife passages. 230 miles of border wall were built in the State of Arizona alone, resulting in about 80% of the border being impassable to any animal larger than a cottontail. Currently, the gaps in the border wall—which range from five to 200 feet wide—allow wildlife to pass through far more effectively than will the 8 x 11-inch “doggie door-sized” passages that CBP is proposing.

In the request for comments, CBP includes a StoryMap that allows users to comment directly on each feature that the agency has identified as a point of interest on the map. These include things such as: repair of cattle guards, erosion control and maintenance of patrol roads, reseeding disturbed areas and construction of gates—all manmade structures.

Wildlands Network created an alternative map that reveals the true extent of the barrier’s impact on nature in the region, including critical water sources and habitat for wildlife. The images contained in the CBP StoryMap fail to illustrate the major environmental impacts, like mountaintop removal, blasting, and the damming of rivers with steel border walls. Our map seeks to describe the actual, on-the-ground impacts and images of what border wall construction did to our public lands.

Please interact with this map to familiarize yourself with the reality of this destructive federal public works project, and check out our tips for providing feedback, here. Make sure to submit your feedback by Thursday, February 3rd!