The Border Wall in Arizona and New Mexico- July 2021

Leer el StoryMap en español  aquí 

Beginning on January 21, 2021, the day that President Biden halted construction of the border wall,  Wildlands Network  began to map the construction on the border in Arizona and New Mexico in fine detail in order assess the damage and to determine how much was actually built. Fortunately, several crucially important wildlife corridors were saved at the last minute when construction was halted. However, an incredible amount of damage was inflicted upon our nation's Parks, Monuments, National Forests, Wilderness Areas and Wildlife Refuges, and large portions of the border remain impassable to all but the smallest creatures. This Story Map provides maps, images and short videos to illustrate the damage done

Approximately 391 miles of pedestrian fencing/border wall are present in Arizona and New Mexico, 263 miles of which were built between 2017 and 2021. There are also an additional 120 miles of vehicle barriers in Arizona and New Mexico. The section below on Border Markers and Barriers describes what these structures are. Several locations had sections where the actual wall was not completed, but were left with severe environmental damage due to the blasting of mountains with dynamite. Essentially, mountaintop removal methods used in modern mining laid waste to many protected lands. In many places the damage is irreversible.

The map below is interactive, allowing one to zoom in and out and click on wall segments for detailed information such as project and segment names and length of wall. Make sure to click on the legend that symbolizes the map. Clicking on any of the red, black, brown or blue line segments will provide you with information like Project and Segment names and length of the segment on miles. The blue pins mark places described in the Story Map below. Ports of Entry are marked for reference. These map data are accurate and complete for Arizona and New Mexico. Ground truthing surveys are planned in the near future to map California and Texas to add to this map.

Various types of markers, fencing and barriers exist along the US Mexico border, dating back to 1848 when the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was enacted. The evolution of the demarcation of the border has become more brutal and intrusive over time.

The first markers stood only a few feet tall. 52 of these markers were placed along the border between 1849-57 after the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed.

Border monuments are numbered sequentially from east to west and were not placed at pre-determined distances, but rather were placed using line of sight. The theory behind the placement was that if you are standing at one monument, then you should be able to see one on each side of you off in the distance and therefore be able to triangulate your position and know if you were in Mexico or the United States. This was a product of the extreme topography of the Borderlands.

Border monuments are numbered sequentially from east to west and were not placed at pre-determined distances, but were located using line of sight. The theory behind the placement was that if you are standing at one monument, then you should be able to see one on each side of you off in the distance and therefore be able to triangulate your position and know if you were in Mexico or the United States. This was a product of the extreme topography of the Borderlands.

These were the first physical barriers designed to impede human traffic. These barriers, often referred to as "Normandy" barriers, significantly escalated the level of hardening border infrastructure. Various designs were built based upon agency/land manager preferences, but also based upon material availability, mostly utilizing military surplus and railroad tracks. The first generation of these were built in 2008.

Following the passage of  The Secure Fence Act of 2006 , which authorized and funded the construction of 700 miles of fence along the border, the building of pedestrian fences expanded rapidly. Although the word "pedestrian" may seem like it is promoting pedestrian transit, nothing could be further from the truth. The point of this type of fencing is to deter and impede all pedestrian traffic. The social ramifications of this fencing cannot be ignored, for it has driven people into the most remote, dry and hottest parts of the borderlands, resulting in thousands of deaths over the last 15 years. It has also had a severe impact on wildlife movement and migration.

Never before in the history of North America has an impermeable barrier existed. The border wall will cut off migration and dispersal for many common resident and endangered species. No animal larger than a cottontail rabbit is able to pass through these steel fences that reach 30-feet tall and have gaps of only 4 inches between the steel bollards.

Lat/Long 31.334017, -109.253158

The impact that border barriers, and specifically pedestrian bollard walls, have upon wildlife is profound. Much of the land in the borderlands is arid, with scarce surface water and a highly erratic rainfall regime. Animals have learned to migrate seasonally in order to obtain food and water resources that change from season to season and from year to year. A seasonally spring or stream may be the lifeblood for many animals across a huge area. In a warming and drying climate, wildlife need more space and options, not fewer, in order to survive. The construction of border walls could not have come at a worse time. Deer, bighorn sheep, pronghorn, black bear, javelina, jaguar and ocelot know no political boundaries. We, as civilized humans, and as Americans, who enacted the first scientifically-based environmental protection laws as a nation state, must respect our legacy as a progressive society that honors and cherishes its natural resources.

The Borderlands of southeast Arizona and southwest New Mexico is a biodiversity hotspot. Often referred to as the " Sky Islands ," this region is known for being a place where many tropical and temperate species reach their northern and southern limits, i.e. "the land where the black bear and jaguar share the same trail." For tens of thousands of years this region has been a continental crossroads for connectivity, migration and dispersal. By blocking this millennially-long flow of wildlife, the evolutionary history of the region will be altered.

Construction of a 30 foot border wall began in the San Bernardino Valley east of Douglas, Arizona in September of 2019. Six months later the Rancho San Bernardino, owned and managed by the  Cuenca Los Ojos Foundation,  and San Bernardino NWR were effectively cut off by the wall, blocking near all movement of wildlife. Trail camera photos by CLO captured this in a dramatic way capturing video of Javelina, aka "peccary", trapped behind the wall attempting to gain access to water and forage at the refuge just north of the wall.

Prior to the border wall being constructed, wildlife was abundant at  San Bernardino National Wildlife Refuge  located 15 miles east of Douglas, Arizona near the New Mexico State line. The following animations show this abundance. The Refuge was teeming with wildlife. However, after the wall was completed, the wildlife largely disappeared. Other factors such as drought have likely played role as well in declines of animal abundance, but the rapid and sudden decline in animals is rather conspicuous. The refuge is the largest wetland in the region and provides water for much of the wildlife in the region.

At Cabeza Prieta NWR in the Sonoran desert of western Arizona, javelina and majestic Sonoran mule deer are now impeded from moving freely in search of food and water because the border wall stops them. Our National Wildlife Refuges must remain open for the wildlife that they were established to protect.

In 2020 documentary filmmaker Leslie Epperson produced a 2 minute video about the border wall at San Bernardino NWR in southeast Arizona. You can see more by  SmallWheel Films  here.

"Myles Traphagen speaks for the San Bernardino National Wildlife Refuge, home to endangered fish of the Río Yaqui, and other threatened and endangered animals. The last remnant of the San Bernardino Cienega in the United States. Critical jaguar habitat. Dynamited and bulldozed daily for a border wall."

The following is a selection of sites in Arizona and New Mexico that have suffered extreme environmental impacts. The impacts include groundwater pumping, mountaintop removal and dynamited lands, hydrological impacts and damming of streams, and public safety hazards like unstable slopes, open trenches and sheer cliffs that pose extreme jeopardy to people, livestock and wildlife. These sites were identified after mapping and ground-truthing almost the entire length of the border in Arizona and New Mexico. There were notable allies in this effort that are acknowledged, namely,  The Great Old Broads For Wilderness , who dispatched an able and competent brigade of broads to the border in March, 2021. John Darwin Kurc, a tireless border advocate and professional photographer, was instrumental in documenting the most severe damage by flying his drone at the right place and time to document and witness the destruction of our protected lands. Their efforts are greatly appreciated.

LAT / LONG 31.33364, -108.6069 to 31.33343, -108.58153 

Lat/Long 31.3364, -111.077564

In the Fall of 2020 Fisher Sand & Gravel began heavy earthmoving and mountaintop removal in the Pajarito Mountains of Santa Cruz County, Arizona 6 miles west of Nogales. This is in the Coronado National Forest and is in the Atascosa Unit 2  Critical Habitat for the endangered jaguar . 15.3 miles of critical habitat intersects the border here, of which 4.3 miles is obstructed by 30 foot tall border wall, amounting to 28% of critical habitat being blocked for jaguar migration and dispersal. Numerous washes and drainages occur here and there is a considerable amount of loose debris that, if left bare, could wash downstream, clog drainages, plug springs, and accelerate the risk of catastrophic flood damage during the next major rainfall event. There are many cattle tanks and springs that are important water sources for wildlife. The presence of disturbed bare soil will also promote the colonization of invasive plant species.

Lat/Long 31.444778, -111.424278

Lat/Long 31.338342, -109.093933

The senseless destruction of one our nation's national treasures, at a cost of nearly $450 million dollars for 4.5 miles of border wall in a previously inaccessible area, is not only a crime against nature, but also a complete disregard for the long-established laws and the conservation ethic that America has pioneered.

Demand that Congress repeal Section 102 of the  Real ID Act of 2005 . It is only with this law that our country's protected lands were able to be destroyed with no public review or oversight.

"(Sec. 102) Amends the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA) to authorize the Secretary of Homeland Security (the Secretary), in the Secretary's sole discretion, to waive all laws as necessary to ensure expeditious construction of certain barriers and roads at the U.S. border."

All of these laws, some dating back to 1890, were enacted by both houses of Congress, signed into law by the President, and have survived decades of judicial review. The Secretary of Homeland Security is an unelected, politically appointed official. The ability of one person to erase the legacy of American democracy with impunity is fundamentally antithetical to the ideals that this country was founded upon.

WIldlands Network wishes to thank the following organizations and individuals for their support and help mapping and documenting the border wall crisis:

 Great Old Broads For Wilderness , Valer Clark & Jose Manuel Perez of  Cuenca Los Ojos ,  Leslie Epperson and Small Wheel Films ,  John Darwin Kurc , Kate Scott of the  Madrean Archipelago Wildlife Center  for their direct contributions of work. We also acknowledge and thank our partners that we have worked alongside the last four years fighting the border wall:  Sierra Club ,  Defenders of Wildlife ,  Center for Biological Diversity , several States Attorneys Generals, and many members of the No Border Wall Coalition, along with numerous Federal, State and Local officials who cared, and to the many astute and objective journalists who are essential to an open and functioning democracy.

Since 1991,  Wildlands Network  has been committed to reconnecting, restoring and rewilding North America for the benefit of all species. Our work is founded in science, driven by fieldwork and furthered through strategic policy and partnerships. We envision a North America where nature is undivided, and where people coexist in harmony with our native plants and animals.