[va-bird] Fw: [Tweeters] Tijuana Slough politics

From: "Kristin Stewart" <kristinstewart01@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "VA-Bird" <va-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2005 19:16:02 -0800

A bit far afield from VA, but of interest to us all...

Kristin Stewart
Olympia WA
VSO member and former VA resident

Original Message -----
From: "Connie Sidles" <csidles@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <tweeters@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, February 03, 2005 2:24 PM
Subject: [Tweeters] Tijuana Slough politics

Hey tweets, On Monday, the Seattle Times reported a disturbing development
regarding the Tijuana Slough. According to the Seattle Times (which picked
up the story from the LA Times), the Bush Administration is proposing to
take care of an illegal immigrant problem by filling up canyons with dirt.

Here's a summary of the issue:
A fence currently closes off access to the U.S. border from Mexico along a
3.5 mile stretch of land that borders the Tijuana estuary. However, due to
erosion in parts along this stretch, the fence can be stepped over quite
easily by illegal travelers.

To improve homeland security, the federal government is proposing to fill

some of the canyons with dirt from nearby mesas, then building a fence to
block illegals. The proposal is being pushed very hard by Rep. Duncan
Hunter, R-Calif. He is quoted as saying, "A true environmentalist would

want

to close that gap [in the Border Patrol's fencing program]. The estuary

gets

pounded by the traffic of folks being smuggled into the United Sates.

There

have been hundreds of trails cut deep by the smugglers."

Environmentalists, including the Coastal Commission, believe that an
effective fence can be built without filling up the canyons with dirt.

They

believe that Hunter's idea would be an ecological disaster in a very
sensitive place.

The Tijuana Slough is a world-class estuary, one of the few left in desert
habitat in California. I have birded there and was entranced by seeing
Clapper Rails rushing around in the slough, darting out to grab some food

feed their miniature bowling ball babies. I know of no other site on the
West Coast where you can see these rails so reliably and in such numbers.

If you feel moved to object to Hunter's proposal, you can write to him at:
Rep. Duncan Hunter
366 South Pierce Street
El Cajon, CA 92020

I would also plead for you to write to your own representatives to

motivate

them to stop this action.

Lastly, I would appreciate it if you would forward this email to other
birder list servers. Rep. Hunter and the Bush Administration need to know
that the Tijuana Slough does not belong solely to them, and that the

public

at large has an interest in security without destroying the very values we
are trying to preserve. - Connie, Seattle

csidles@xxxxxxxxxxxx

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[va-bird] Fw: [Tweeters] Tijuana Slough politics

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