ACTION ALERT
HELP PROTECT ORGAN PIPE NATIONAL MONUMENT AND WILDERNESS

Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument is one of the most spectacular examples of the unique and awe-inspiring beauty of the Sonoran Desert, and is currently 95% designated Wilderness. In 1978 the United Nations designated this Monument as an International Biosphere Reserve, recognizing its outstanding significance as a natural preserve where one of the of the Earth's major ecosystems survives almost unspoiled.

The US Border Patrol is asking for an unprecedented increase in access to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument and the monument’s designated Wilderness Area and is pushing to conduct activities that have not been permitted in the past.

The proposal includes (but is not limited to): the establishment of 4 new east-west roads across the monument and designated Wilderness; unlimited use of off-road vehicles on illegally established roads and trails within Wilderness; unlimited cross-country use of off-road motorcycles and ATVS throughout the monument; and the establishment of two backcountry camps in designated Wilderness Areas.

These proposed increases in access will have likely have massive and irreversible impacts to the monument’s natural resources and wilderness values. These proposals will severely fragment the landscape, block wildlife corridors, and devastate sensitive habitat for the critically endangered Sonoran Pronghorn, of which there are less than 25 left in existence. This proposal will also violate the Wilderness Act of 1964, which expressly prohibits new road-building in designated Wilderness Areas, and may set a dangerous precedent for gaining motorized access to other Wilderness Areas.

The National Park Service and Border Patrol must consider other alternatives that may be more effective in patrolling remote regions, such as high-tech surveillance equipment that can potentially be implemented without violating the Wilderness Act or harming park resources. At the same time, the Border Patrol should provide a long-overdue analysis of the effectiveness of its current border policy before continuing to rely on it to address the growing problem of undocumented migration on public lands.

Please see below for additional information.

The National Park Service will be preparing an Environmental Assessment of this proposal, and has invited the public to comment on the scope of this document.

Comments are due April 20th.

Please contact:

Superintendent
Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument
10 Organ Pipe Drive
Ajo, Arizona 85321-9626

Asa Hutchinson
Undersecretary for Border and Transportation Security
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Washington, D.C. 20528

More information:
Any potential impacts this proposal may have on any of the park’s resources should be considered in the draft Environmental Assessment, including:

Wildlife and Vegetation:

• All potential direct, indirect and cumulative impacts to the park’s natural resources and native species must be analyzed. Some of the impacts to consider:
• New roads block wildlife migration and fragment important habitat;
• Clearing new destroys fragile desert vegetation, and further reducing wildlife habitat;
• Continual use of illegal “roads” and trails amounts to the creation of a new road, resulting in the inevitable public use of these illegal roads, further increasing human activity and disturbance in these remote and pristine regions;
• Already-underfunded land management agencies must cope with the flood of Border Patrol vehicles and migrant foot traffic on remote and sensitive public lands, and are forced to divert limited funds and other resources away from crucial land management activities;
• Increased border patrol activity into remote desert areas does not reduce migration but merely pushes it into even more remote, sensitive areas, continually spreading the impacts into the most fragile and pristine desert regions.

Impacts to Species of Special Concern:

• This area is considered vital to the survival and recovery of the critically endangered Sonoran Pronghorn, of which fewer than 25 animals are left in the United Sates. Every state, federal and private agency involved in efforts to conserve the Sonoran pronghorn agrees that this species is unquestionably on the brink of extinction in the United States, precisely because of human activities that have resulted in the degradation and fragmentation of pronghorn habitat. Because of the Pronghorn’s extremely precarious status, any further disruption to this species or additional habitat loss may jeopardize the continuing existence of this greatly imperiled species. All direct, indirect, and cumulative impacts to the pronghorn must be addressed in this analysis.
• This area is also important to the endangered Lessor long-nosed bat and Cactus ferruginous pygmy-owl - direct, indirect and cumulative impacts to these species and their habitat must be considered.

Impacts to Designated Wilderness Areas:

• The Wilderness Act expressly prohibits the creation of new roads in designated Wilderness Areas. Besides the proposals to create new roads where none currently exist, the illegally established “roads” and trails mentioned by BP in this proposal also technically do not exist, according to current management mandates.
• By allowing the regular use and maintenance of these “non-existent roads,” the Border Patrol would in effect be creating hundreds of miles of new roads in Organ Pipe’s designated Wilderness area, and would be setting a dangerous precedent for future access and road-building within designated Wilderness and roadless areas.

Other park resources that may be impacted and must be considered include the Monument's air quality, cultural resources, geology and soils, lightscapes, water resources, visitor use, park operations and viewscapes.

Other Considerations:

Other alternatives must be considered
While it is critical for the US Border Patrol to have the ability and tools necessary to safeguard our borders, providing this massive increase in access to National Monument lands and designated Wilderness Areas is unneeded. Currently Border Patrol agents have all the authority necessary to go into these areas off-road during pursuits or when necessary. Instead of increasing access to these fragile and vitally important lands, other options should be considered. There is a growing number of new and diverse high-tech surveillance equipment that could be far more effective in patrolling these remote regions, all without violating the Wilderness Act or harming the protected lands and the irreplaceable natural resources found on the Monument.

Effectiveness of proposal must be analyzed
The strategy of continually increasing Border Patrol presence in remote desert areas in order to combat undocumented migration has been in place on Arizona’s border for almost 10 years, yet its effectiveness is questionable at best: record numbers of migrants are now crossing through Arizona’s deserts, pushing the death toll higher every year. There has already been more deaths this year along Arizona’s border than any other, and summer - the deadliest time of year - is not yet here. There has never been a thorough analysis of the effectiveness of the current border control strategy, yet tens of millions of taxpayer dollars are spent on these same strategies every year. The effectiveness of this proposal to meet its stated purpose and need must be analyzed prior to its implementation.

Comments are due April 20th, so please write today!