The Sonoran Desert and the U.S. / Mexican Border

The Sonoran Desert is a diverse ecosystem that is shared with our southern neighbor, Mexico. This desert is home to many different species of plants and animals, with many organisms being unique to only the Sonoran Desert. Recently, there has been increased concern for the conservation of the desert to curb habitat loss due to expanding city growth. Both the United States and Mexico are trying to cooperate to help conserve this precious desert. Each country has implemented different policies and agencies to help protect this valuable environment. Likewise, there have been issues that may in fact lead to the destruction or inhibit the progression of this ecosystem. Many ideas have been developed to help resolve the potential and ongoing problems associated with this area and many environmental groups are encouraging the development of policies to protect this unique biome and to maintain its natural beauty.

Competing Interests

United States Government Policy

The United States government has varying interest in the Sonoran Desert region. It is home to many unique species of plant and animal which require protecting and management. It is also the point of entry from one country to another; state and federal laws must be enforced and national security must be maintained. The additional challenge to balancing both is that this desert is shared by the U.S. and Mexico. These two counties must work together to protect both their citizens and the natural resources of the area.

One of the first major governmental joint protection efforts for this region was the La Paz Agreement of 1983.This pledge between the United States and Mexico promised to protect and preserve the natural environment of the border region and addressed land, water, air, pollution, and waste. The La Paz Agreement also focused on emergency preparedness and proposed cooperation through national programs and scientific exchanges. Both countries realized the value of a healthful environment for the "long-term economic and social well-being of present and future generations of each country" (epa.gov/usmexico). The area covered by the agreement extended 100 kilometers on either side of both inland and maritime borders between the countries.

The introduction of the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1994 opened trade between The U.S., Mexico, and Canada. Along with the increased trade, there was growing concern over the pollution caused by the rise in transportation, agriculture, and manufacturing. NAFTA created the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC) and the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) to address the issues. The NAACE mandated that each country's laws ensure high levels of environmental protection via inspectors who monitored their compliance. The goal of the CEC is to provide sustainable development and preserve the welfare of their citizens. It has "a quasi-judicial role in reviewing submissions from the public on enforcement matters"(naaec.gc). Each party appoints Environmental Ministers and their Joint Public Advisory Committee (JPAC) is comprised of 5 members from each country. These agencies ensured that environmental concerns were being addressed during this massive trade expansion but did little concerning immigration from Mexico to the United States.

The Illegal Immigration Reform and Responsibility Act of 1996 gave the Attorney General the authority to add physical border barriers and remove obstacles concealing illegal entrants. The Attorney General was also given the power to override previous environmental laws. Many policies including the National Environmental Policy Act could be "waived to the extent the Attorney General determines necessary to ensure expeditious construction of the barriers and roads" (lib.umich.edu). The A.G. also had the authority to buy or contract any land deemed essential to enforce border laws. At this time border enforcement became the dominate priority for the U.S. government and each new proposal for the region was a security based initiative. The Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America agenda, proposed in 2005, addressed border traffic and increased security of the region. This international partnership also included environmental/energy initiatives and planned to develop technologies and strategies for the highest standards of security. In 2006, the Secure Fence Act authorized the construction of border fencing, vehicle barriers, and checkpoints along the U.S.-Mexico border. It was reintroduced in 2008 and proposed two layers of reinforced fencing stretching 700 miles along the border.

Still other government agencies had environmental protection as their chief objective. The Environmental Protection Agency's U.S.-Mexico Border 2012 Program seeks to "improve the environment and protect the health of [...] people living along the border (epa.gov/usmexico). Their goals include: clean air, water, land contamination, public health, as well as joint emergency preparedness and policy enforcement and compliance and they established a task force to measure current conditions and a programs progress. The Bureau of Land Management is responsible for the management and protection of large stretches of land in the Southwest. "The Lower Sonoran Office manages 1.4 million acres of public land [...] including the half million acre Sonoran Desert National Monument"(blm.gov), which includes four Areas of Critical Environmental Concern. Here they designate recreational areas, oversee mining expeditions, work with American Indians on managing land and resources, and promote education about conservation. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service manage many wildlife refuges and care for several endangered species, protect migratory birds, and promote education and care for the region. This agency works with other government agencies and landowners to help minimize the impact of increased border security and construction. "The Fish and Wildlife Services uses an Ecosystem Approach to [...] conservation. The Service looks at the significance of the resources present, risk or threat to these resources, and the Services ability to address resource needs, and opportunity for partnership with others"(fws.gov). These branches all work to protect and conserve the natural resources but may find themselves at the mercy of other governmental departments.

The Department of Homeland Security has had an increased presence in the Sonoran Desert to construct a fence along the border region. Homeland Security Secretary, Michael Chertoff, has the authority to bypass any environmental laws and land management policies to construct the border fence and install new security technology. In an April 2008 press release Chertoff states, "Section 102(c) of IIRIRA grants me the authority to waive all legal requirements that I, in my sole discretion, determine necessary to ensure expeditious construction of this much-needed border infrastructure" (dhs.gov). Chertoff goes on to explain his agencies commitment to environmental responsibility and that other agencies have and will continue to conduct Environmental Assessments (EA) regarding any Department of Homeland Security border construction. Two separate EAs were conducted in areas of the Sonoran Desert in 2002, and both had similar results. Operation Desert Grip's EA, put out by the Immigration and Naturalization Service, found no significant affects to the natural/human environment concerning the installation of two remote Border Patrol trailers. The report claims that damage would be minimal as enforcement agents would limit vehicle and personnel in the area, properly maintain all equipment, and reduce the destruction of any obstructing vegetation. The assessment also mentioned the Sonoran Pronghorn Antelope, who resides in the area, would not be disturbed by the trailer placement. The 2002 EA of the installation of temporary vehicle barriers in Naco and Douglas, Arizona also found no significant harm to the environment and deemed the new barriers a necessary addition as border crossers created new trails in remote locations to avoid detection by border enforcement and threatened both the landscape and wildlife. Since these barriers would be place near existing roads, no new construction was required. The Department of Defense has made requests for similar environmental exceptions at military bases to conduct necessary training exercises. Military bases are often home to wildlife and the Sonoran Pronghorn antelope is threatened at Camp Pendleton by field exercises and equipment tests.

The many agencies of the United States Government will continue to battle over protection and security laws in the Sonoran Desert. Not only must the competing agencies balance fighting for their different priorities but must also work with Mexico to guarantee the safety and well-being of all people and the natural environment.

The Bush Administration Years

Many different government agencies have been created or are being used to help conserve the Sonoran Desert. In 1998, a multi-year plan titled the Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan (SCDP) was instituted to help Pima County preserve and restore parts of the Sonoran Desert. The Endangered Species Act (ESA) has many species on the endangered species list including the Sonoran pronghorn, pupfish, and woundfin. The Multi-Species Conservation Program (MSCP) is designed to protect critical habitats for endangered and non-endangered animals alike. The Conservation Land System (CLS) in Pima County provides a foundation for wildlife protection through landowner involvement.

There are many current issues that involve the Sonoran Desert that were negatively affected by the Bush administration. On July 30th 2008, the Bush administration removed the Arizona native pygmy owl from the endangered species list based on the fact that more owls live in Mexico than Arizona. Now the owl species is beginning to decline on the other side of the border. The Bush administration is the first to ever delist an animal based on the fact that there were higher populations in other parts of the world. On January 17th 2007, the Department of Homeland Security, created by the Bush administration, overrode environmental laws and ordered the construction of fences around Barry M. Goldwater Range. This is cause for concern because it may be damaging to the environment, and may lead to other unnecessary destruction of land. On September 17th 2008, the Bush administration applied for a rule change to the Interior department. They are seeking to decrease the amount of scientific input needed to determine endangered species, which would lead to more endangered species relating to Arizona. On, March 16th Department Homeland Security, $10 million dollar initiative to seal Mexico/Arizona border to keep drug traffickers and immigrants at bay. Sealing border may inhibit several species from crossing and roaming freely, while dramatically reducing and changing environment.

There are many different possible resolutions that can help the sonoran desert with the help of the public. Since its first institution in 1997, Pima County has accumulated over $150 million in fund to help protect open space land. Pima County is initiating Green Infrastructures, focusing new construction and development in already where basic infrastructures already exist instead of branching out. This would lead to less environmental damage, and hopefully spend money on improving current street conditions.

Mexico Policy

The Sonoran Desert covers approximately 100,000 square miles of the southern half of Arizona, southeastern California, most of the Baja California peninsula, the islands of the Gulf of California, and much of the state of Sonora, Mexico (http://www.desertmuseum.org). This is a very large area, and it needs protection from the many dangers it faces. In 1983 The La Paz Agreement initiated this conservation. It was an agreement between Mexico and the United States in which each vowed to protect the environment by cleaning the pollution in air, water and land. There were laws and regulations to follow before this, but this agreement had each nation promise to enforce them. Ten years later in 1993, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was created, and this was between Mexico, the United States and Canada. It was a trade bloc that had two supplements, one being the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC). The NAAEC helped create a consistent government relation on the environment within each nation, it, too, also had the nations enforce their environmental policies. Because of NAFTA, multiple organizations were established, the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation, which addresses any issues dealing with trade, but also more importantly the environment. The North American Development Bank and the Border Environmental Cooperation Commission were also created through NAFTA and they help fund environmental conservation projects (www.epa.gov).

Mexico by itself needed some help to jump start their conservation efforts. They had been told by many organizations including the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development that they had good environmental policies but they were not enforcing them enough. An example of this is, in 1998 four copper mines in the Sonoran Desert were said to be closing down which in turn would have resulted in the loss of 450 jobs. Since no miners knew who would be laid off, thousands of them protested the closing. The Mexican government used its military to force workers back to work and even had miners come in from the United States to work (http://dbacon.igc.org/Mexico/24MinersFight.htm). This for one didn't help the Mexican economy and only improved the landowner's wealth (who was already a billionaire) and led to damaging the environment even more.

Mining is one of the serious threats that endanger the Sonoran Desert, because it is the tearing up of the land and exporting the natural resources from the earth. Cattle ranching is also another threat to the region, it is a marginal resource, but its impact on the land is large. It leaves damaged soil and contaminated water sources. The fencing required for it also obstructs the movement patterns of wildlife. The most significant threats to the area are the introduction of alien weeds which prevents the growth of the natural plants (http://www.parksinperil.org). Another major is the development and extensions of roads and highways. They run right through the middle of the desert region and also block the movement patterns of wildlife. There is more pollution coming from the vehicles, this includes suspended particle pollution that reaches 8,896 tons annually of which unpaved roads are the main source. There is also a problem with scrap tires, they contribute to diseases from mosquitoes, pose threats for toxic fires that can burn form months which cause tremendous air pollution, it also generates a sludge that contaminates the soil and the water under it. One of the biggest sources of pollution also comes from illegal immigration, it is said that they leave on average of eight pounds of waste per person. According to between john McCain and The department of homeland security, anywhere between 700,000 and 4,000,000 illegal immigrants enter the U.S. per year with 70% coming from Mexico and 50% of all illegal immigrants entering through Arizona. Even at the smallest scale of 700,000 per year that's about 5,600,000 pounds of waste left along the border region (http://www.epa.gov/Border2012).

This is a very large amount of pollution and a big list of other threats which is why NAFTA and the La Paz Agreement were necessary. Since the La Paz agreement, four protected areas have been established in the Mexican Sonoran Desert. The El Pinacate Biosphere located in Sonora, Mexico is one of them. It is the largest area of protected desert in the world, known as the "Gran Desierto." It is home to 540 species of vascular plants, 40 species of mammals, 200 species of birds, 40 species of reptiles and amphibians, and four species of freshwater fish, many of these are endangered. This conservatory started out without a staff, field equipment, vehicles and a visitor center. Parks in Peril (PiP) joined in and soon a full staff was hired and conservation programs like environmental education were formed. PiP worked with the partner organization Instituto de Medio Ambiente y Desarrollo Sustenable del Estado de Sonora (IMADES) to carry out conservation activities that led to site consolidation in 1999. Negotiations were quickly made with the Mexican government, mining companies, and reserve staff to end illegal mining activities in the area until proper regulations were put in place (http://www.parksinperil.org/wherewework/mexico/protectedarea/elpinacate.html).

There are other organizations that are doing there part to conserve this region as well. The Southwest Consortium for Environmental Research and Policy (SCERP) is a collection of five Mexican universities and five U.S. universities. It was formed in 1989 to address the environmental issues and find solutions to air, water, and land pollution. Border2012 is also a cooperation effort between Mexico and the U.S. Their main focus is primarily the same as SCERP but its focus remains only within the border region. Border2012 has done a lot of conservation efforts. They have freed the roads of over 4,000,000 scrap tires, which were recycled into fuel for cement plants. In 2007 alone they cleaned a scrap pile of over 50,000 tires. Border2012 has also held multiple workshops including one where both the U.S. and Mexico members joined along with other conservation group members and government official, and they discussed each nation's environmental policies so each side could understand any issues between them. Members have also gone out to clear the desert of the waste left by illegal immigrants.

So as you can see there are a lot of conservation efforts currently going on and the step has been taken in the right direction. A great cooperation between people from both Mexico and the United States has been very helpful and it is helping the relationship between our nations to grow.

Environmental Conservation Groups

With more than 2,000 species of plants and covering about 100,000 square miles, the Sonoran Desert is one of the lushest and most diverse North American deserts (desertmuseum.org). The United States-Mexico border cuts through the desert and thousands of acres of public lands. Protected lands along the border include Organ Pipe National Monument, Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge, and El Picante y Gran Desierto de Alter Biosphere Reserves. Only seventeen percent of the original desert area is protected in the United States (worldwildlife.org).

The Sonoran Desert is a delicate ecosystem that is threatened by growth along the border. Sixty percent of the desert in the United States alone has been affected by development (worldwildlife.org). Cattle grazing leads to the depletion of native ground cover and opens up sensitive areas to non-native, invasive plant and animal species. Water use, both for irrigation and development, depletes riparian areas and groundwater. Development isolates threatened populations of animals and limits their recovery potential. Population growth has not been the sole cause of destruction to habitat. Immigration crack-downs in urban areas along the border have forced illegal border crossers into more desolate desert. Foot traffic and off-road vehicles, such as immigrants and the law enforcement officers that attempt to track them down, trample vegetation, leave trails that remain visible for years, and give rise to problems such as increased erosion (Sonoran Desert Project). Public lands managers along the border would like to limit the Border Patrol's use of motorized vehicles in natural areas, instead focusing on high-tech monitoring and horseback patrols. However, lack of connectivity and communication between agencies and across the border limits the adoption of these and other potential solutions (worldwildlife.org). Various conservation groups are using a number of different approaches to help bridge this gap and protect the Sonoran Desert habitat.

The Sierra Club focuses on legislation regarding the protection of public lands along the border. One issue they are fighting is the Real ID act, passed in order to allow the Secretary of Homeland Security to waive local, state, and federal laws protecting the environment in order to expedite the construction of a wall along the border. Not only does this negate years of legislation meant to protect delicate ecosystems, but the wall itself impedes the movement of animals and bisects habitats. In 2007, the Real ID act was used to speed up construction of 35 miles of wall adjacent to the Barry M. Goldwater Range and Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge, hindering efforts of wildlife managers working to bring back the Sonoran pronghorn from near extinction. The Sierra Club also supports legislation that would provide a more effective defense against illegal immigration while reducing the impact on wilderness areas. H.R. 2503 would repeal section 102 of the Real ID act, requiring compliance with environmental protection laws and giving local and state officials a say in how to deal with border security decision making (arizona.sierraclub.org/border).

Defenders of Wildlife is another organization that deals with protection of habitat along the border. According to their website, an estimated 39 protected or proposed species of plants and animals have been impacted in Arizona alone. Species at risk include pygmy owls, desert tortoises, Fort Huachuca water umbels, jaguars, and the Sonoran pronghorn. Defenders of Wildlife is also supporting H.R. 2503 to amend the Real ID act. In lieu of constructing an impermeable wall to restrict illegal immigration, Defenders of Wildlife encourages the use of virtual fencing, vehicle barriers, and other low-impact solutions. In Organ Pipe National Monument, 20 miles of vehicle barrier along the border has led to a drastic reduction in vehicle crossings (defenders.org).

The Nature Conservancy is focusing its efforts on bringing together groups from both the United States and Mexico to fight to protect border lands. They helped form a plan in the 1990's to protect the Sonoran Desert. Three hundred and fifty three species, including almost all native fish, and 78 vegetation communities were selected as conservation priorities. The plan established goals for properly managed conservation areas that would help to retain the region's biodiversity. A hundred such areas were identified. Less than 20% of these lands are adequately protected, and the Nature Conservancy is working to unite public and private entities to protect the rest (nature.org).

These conservation groups and many others are working hard to protect rare habitat and unique species of plants and animals in the face of population growth and other issues. They look past political interests and focus on preserving biological diversity and educating the public on the consequences of unsustainable development.

Home Owners, Business Owners, and Land Owners

In the American southwest, especially the Sonoran Desert, there have been many changes made over the last fifteen years. Many of these changes have to do with the home owners, business owners, and land owners in the region. The climate in the Sonoran Desert opens up this region to a wide variety of businesses and people coming to experience the beauty of this climate. In this section of the project we have focused primarily on these three groups and the positive and negative effects that illegal immigration has had on them. Illegal immigration being such a hot topic in today's politics many people have concerns on how this effects our environment and the people that are directly affected by it.

Many of the large land owners in the Sonoran Desert region have had control of their land for many years as it is passed from generation to generation (pima.gov). The land owners that I have spoken with on the topic of immigration and the effects that it has had on their land have had many different views, some positive and some negative. The people that have been considered experts in this field that have been spoken to are located on both sides of the border.

Jason Maples, a hunting ranch owner on the Mexico side of the border had many things to say about how the immigration has taken a toll on his ranch. On the positive side he said that at least as immigrants are passing through they scare the predators and can help to protect the primary target species. He also said that although they do this they become a predator themselves often killing a deer a day to feed the large groups that he has seen passing through his land. Ranches in the Sonoran Desert help conservationists to achieve many of the goals they set. Ranching helps to preserve native habitat (pima.gov) and with the immigration coming through much of that habitat is becoming trampled into basically illegal highways to the US. Another problem that ranchers deal with as immigrants pass through is the trash that is left behind. As Jason Maples put it, "It is frustrating for someone who tries to keep a clean place". One final thing that was discussed as I spoke with Mr. Maples was fires. I went in thinking that as immigrants would pass through they would clear much of the dead wood and use it for fires helping the land but Mr. Maples pointed out to me one of his biggest fears. His fear is that a these people pass through and light fires they are clearing lowering wild fire probability but what they don't have is an excess of water to put their fires out. Maples fears that one day one of these fires could cost him everything that his family has worked for over the generations.

Many labor based businesses thrive on the use of illegal immigrants in the Sonoran Desert region. These business range from construction to landscaping to auto work and many more. This use of immigrants has been able to help keep costs down because of the low labor costs and keep speed up because of the supply of people willing to work. As I talked with Casey Goodman, a representative from a local construction company, he had different views on the positives and negatives in this area.

On the positive side he said that it is nice for employers because wages are down because of the amount of people willing to work. Also going along with that is that the consumer cost is down as well because the employer is able to get the work done for such low costs. Although the positive aspects of this may be few they are very appealing to many people.

Casey Goodman was also able to represent many negative views to this very same situation. He said that although there are plenty of jobs out there it is hard to find a job that will pay well enough to provide for a family. As far as the environment goes with the low cost for development there are many homes going up that are taking over the natural habitat. "Today, ranch land fragmentation is greatest within a 25-mile radius of the Tucson urban core" (Pima.gov). So as we are able to look at these ranches that are helping to conserve the environment we see the housing boom destroying what mother nature has to offer us. The losses don't only include the land but many of the native plant and animal species that are located on that land. In the past five years many species including the ornate box turtle and the Mexican garter snake have been put on the protected animals list (azgfd.gov).

Home growth has never seen such a boom as has happened in the Sonoran Desert in the last fifteen years. Although the growth has slowed new homes were being built in record numbers in the American Southwest over the past several years. This growth has caused many changes in the environment many of them being positive and at the same time many not so positive things have occurred.

On the positive side there have been an increased number of natural resources on the Mexico side of the border because as more people are leaving more resources are becoming available to those that stay. On the US side the population is increasing also increasing the amount of businesses. This is providing more jobs, and cheaper homes creating a more livable environment for the people that live there.

The negative aspect for the homeowners is the exact opposite of the positive. As we have learned from performing this case study, every view has two sides so we are trying to present both sides and let the reader decide what is greater, the cost or the value. The negative aspects would be that as these homes are built the resources in the areas are being used up or covered up, whichever occurs first. For example there are more homes in the area than what would be considered safe based on water. If the area were to go into an extreme drought there would be no telling the catastrophe that we would be in. So every situation has two sides and it is up to us to look at the cost and value to decide what is best.

Conclusion

In conclusion, this study has revealed much information about the Sonoran Desert and how the two countries surrounding it play a major role in its future. The United States' and Mexico's policies have a great impact on its use and protection. Each country has different ways of dealing with the border and associated problems. The changes that occurred in this region over the years that George W. Bush was the president of the United States have had mixed results in the region. There are also many environmental groups that have a great interest in protecting the area and are doing their best to ensure the survival of the delicate ecosystem. The home and business owners in the region have a vested interest in protecting the region's resources. While no one wants to see this region destroyed, different interests dictate different policies regarding use and conservation. A solution will be reached only with the cooperation of both countries and all interests involved.

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