The Wildlife Society Urges Senators to Block Border Wall Amendment

Online, May 7, 2010 (Newswire.com) - For immediate release: May 7, 2010
TWS Contact: Jenna Jadin (301) 897-9770 x 309; [email protected]

TWS Urges Senators to Block Border Wall Amendment

Amendment to Financial Reform Bill Potentially Harmful to Wildlife

Letter recommends careful scientifically-evaluated regulations, not hasty legislation.

On 07 May 2010 The Wildlife Society (TWS) sent a letter to Senator Harry Reid and Senator Richard Durbin calling on them to oppose a measure to build more border wall along the US-Mexico border.

The measure is an amendment to be proposed by Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) sometime next week. The amendment would be added to the Senate financial reform bill (S.3217) and mandates the construction of 700 miles of double-layer physical fencing along the border. In a press release DeMint said that this amendment "follows through on the four-year-old promise made by Congress to secure the border under the Secure Fence Act of 2006."

Of particular concern to TWS is the impact border walls have on wildlife and wildlife habitats.
Existing border walls are known to cause damaging floods and erosion and they fracture habitat
and migration corridors vital to wildlife, including species that are threatened or endangered.

The US-Mexico border forms a boundary for at least eleven US and three Mexican designated
conservation areas including wildlife refuges, national parks, and biosphere reserves. A wall that
is impermeable to wildlife along the US-Mexico border could prohibit cross-border movement of
a wide range of species including jaguar, ocelot, jaguarundi, Mexican gray wolf, Sonoran
pronghorn, bighorn sheep, black bear, desert tortoise, kit fox, badger, North American porcupine,
and black-tailed prairie dog. A wall could also harm local wildlife populations by preventing access
to limited food and water resources.

"Wildlife does not recognize the artificial geographical boundaries that we impose on the landscape, and its future depends on unencumbered movement from one country to the next," says Michael Hutchins, Executive Director and CEO of The Wildlife Society. "Erecting a barrier between Mexico and the United States may be the simplest and most expedient solution to the illegal immigration problem, but is it the best way to ensure our nation's security or preserve its wildlife heritage over the long-term?"
In the letter, TWS recommends scientifically-based planning and careful regulation of all border security measures, not hasty legislation that will harm wildlife, while having limited benefits for border security.

TWS also recently issued a position statement on the effects of border security measures on wildlife. A copy of the position statement "The Impact of Border Security Measures on Wildlife" is available at http://joomla.wildlife.org/documents/positionstatements/Border_Security.pdf.

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Founded in 1937, The Wildlife Society (TWS) is an international non-profit association made up of more than 9,100 professionals dedicated to excellence in wildlife stewardship through science and education. The mission of TWS is to represent and serve the professional community of scientists, managers, educators, technicians, planners, and others who work to study, manage, and conserve wildlife and their habitats worldwide.