Birding and the border wall in Texas
Posted on November 6th, 2008 – 11:57 AMBy Jim Williams
The Rio Grande Valley in south Texas, along our border with Mexico, has long been a favorite destination for birders. It is a place where you can see bird species found nowhere else in the country. If you want to visit this special place, don’t delay. Go before our government finished The Wall. The Wall is that 16-foot-high concrete and steel barrier being built on our side of the Rio Grande River as part of our solution to illegal immigration.These comments are not about protecting our borders. I have no argument with that. What I don’t understand is why we can’t find a way to do that without demanding such huge environmental sacrafice. The Wall, according to an article in the American Birding Association’s newsletter, simply will remove some species from the United States. The Wall is being built within a 100-foot clearcut through habitat that sometimes is hardly 100 feet deep, squeezed between the river and the ag fields that dominate the Valley. Audubon’s Sabal Palm Bird Sanctuary actually will wind up on the Mexican side of the wall, access all but impossible. This sanctuary and several others sit in this special and rare wildlife corridor that our government has spent $100 million purchasing and restoring. Why is it that we so often seek to solve national problems by giving the environment a good shot in the shorts? Is this really the best we can do? (The White-winged Dove in the photo is found along the Rio Grande River.)
3 Responses to "Birding and the border wall in Texas"
I am not sure that this comment is bases on first hand knowledge or on published matter supplied to you. I am what is referred to as a Winter Texan, which is someone who winters here and summer in the northern part of the country, I spend 7 months a year here and wee the immigration problem first hand and see what you perceive as and enviromental problem. The mentioned Sabal Palms is not the only, or thwe best sanctuary in which to bird watch. The people in the north have no idea the magnitute of the illegal immigration problem here or the impact it has on our economy. I don’t beleive that it is a major problem if a sanctuary is on the Mexican ir US side of the river I don’t beleive this wall, which is nowhere near a done deal yet,is going to deter any bird species from cross the border between the two countries. To us your blog to insult the people from the RGV is ;both uninformed and needless to the advancement of bird watching.
Thanks for sharing this information. Bird lovers will really going to enjoy this post.
Дыра это просто ничто, но вы можете и в ней сломать шею.
