Construction of border fence may jeopardize unique Rio Grande wildlife habitat
"In deepest South Texas, a geographic quirk causes desert, coastal and subtropical influences to converge in an ecologically spectacular riverfront landscape found nowhere else on the continent.
Endangered wildcats — ocelots and jaguarundi — lurk secretively, roaming across the Rio Grande through a dense canopy of rare sabal palms, mesquites, thorny Texas ebonies and Montezuma baldcypress. The tangled haven of woodlands, marsh and desert entices rare birds and butterflies that beckon tourists from all over the world.
"These are the habitats that make the Rio Grande Valley one of the most magical places in all of North America," said Carter Smith, Texas director for the Nature Conservancy.
The diverse habitats form a loosely connected "string of pearls" in a skinny, 100,000-acre wildlife corridor stretching along the Rio Grande from the Gulf Coast to near Roma.
But the string is in danger of being broken by a controversial fence due to be erected by the end of 2008 as part of the federal government's plan to secure the border with Mexico.
Many Valley residents don't want the fence, don't think it will work and instead want more agents and surveillance technology. Among their worst fears is that a barrier will wreak havoc on the sensitive corridor, unraveling decades of work to protect it and endangering an eco-tourism industry generating at least $125 million a year."
JUAN CASTILLO in the Austin American-Statesman.