TAKE DOWN THE WALL Reconnecting Wildlife Corridors on the U.S.-Mexico Border © MATT CLARK MATT © TAKE DOWN THE WALL: RECONNECTING WILDLIFE CORRIDORS ON THE U.S.-MEXICO BORDER Introduction n addition to harming human communities, border To protect wildlife, habitat and our national investment wall construction has destroyed widespread areas of in conservation, Defenders of Wildlife calls on the Biden Ithe nation’s most valuable wildlife habitat, including administration to: within national wildlife refuges, national monuments and n Immediately open all gates in the wall (e.g., flood gates wilderness areas. The U.S.-Mexico border runs through at San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area) so deserts with scant and unpredictable water supplies, where that wildlife can freely pass. many animals live a precarious existence. An impenetrable n Turn off lights and reduce noise and human activity in barrier that stops them from finding the resources they need areas important to wildlife. can threaten their survival. n Remove wall segments that are most harmful to wildlife If critical parts of the border are not reopened to wildlife, or, at minimum, replace them with vehicle barriers our country will lose substantial ground in our efforts to designed to allow wildlife to cross. restore endangered species and conserve natural habitat in the borderlands. Our considerable investments in federal Criteria for Wall Removal conservation lands will be at risk. Defenders identified 18 wall segments as top priorities for removal because they harm or degrade one or more of the following: n Biodiversity: Areas with unusually high numbers of species and/or high numbers of rare species. n Critical habitat: Federally designated critical habitat for federal endangered and threatened species. n Endangered species: Federally endangered and threatened species. n Protected areas: National wildlife refuges, wilderness areas, wilderness study areas, national monuments, national parks or other protected areas with a mission that includes safeguarding wildlife. n Water resources: Rivers, streams, springs, wetlands or groundwater. n Wildlife corridors: Access to water, food, mates or other resources necessary for survival. Top-priority Wall Segments for Removal The wall segments recommended for removal are listed from west to east below along with a brief description, removal justification criteria, location (GPS coordinates for endpoints) and/or segment name and the construction status with PRONGHORN BY BLM/LISA BY PRONGHORN PHILLIPS verifying sources for each one. This document is based on information collected by many organizations working together to identify border wall segments that are top priorities for removal. Myles For more information: Traphagen of Wildlands Network and Dan Millis and Scott Nicol of the Sierra Club [email protected] contributed significantly to the collection and analysis of information presented here. 2 TAKE DOWN THE WALL: RECONNECTING WILDLIFE CORRIDORS ON THE U.S.-MEXICO BORDER California Otay Mountain Wilderness Area, San Diego County Jacumba Mountains Wilderness Area, Imperial This segment is endangered Quino checkerspot butterfly and County Tecate cypress habitat on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) This segment is designated critical habitat for Peninsular lands. Walls built through and adjacent to the designated bighorn sheep. Walls have been recently completed through Wilderness Area during the Bush and Trump administrations the Davies Valley and Skull Valley portions of the Jacumba have caused enormous erosion damage and degraded the Mountains Wilderness, affecting endangered Peninsular habitat of protected species. The wall curves dramatically bighorn sheep and flat-tailed horned lizard, the latter pro- into the U.S., leaving significant amounts of our land isolated tected by a multiagency conservation agreement in Arizona between the wall and Mexico. The recently constructed SD4 and California. The border wall and associated roads hinders double-wall is particularly harmful due to its extra-wide wildlife movement, including ability of federally listed footprint and the fact that any wildlife seeking to cross Peninsular bighorn sheep to reach drinking water. through here must negotiate two walls instead of just one. Removal justification criteria:Critical habitat, endangered Removal justification criteria: Endangered species, protected species, protected areas (designated wilderness), water resources areas (national monument), wildlife corridors (drinking water) Wall segments: San Diego 4 and Bush/Obama-era walls east Wall segments: El Centro Project A:1 (3.2 miles) of there. Status and source: Wall complete. 2021. (CBP map states Status and sources: Under construction (San Diego 4), U.S. “complete.”) Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) map and on-the-ground reports, January, 2021. Older walls to the east complete. QUINO CHECKERSPOT BUTTERFLY BY USFWS/ANDREW FISHER GOWER USFWS/PAT BY SHEEP PENINSULAR BIGHORN 3 TAKE DOWN THE WALL: RECONNECTING WILDLIFE CORRIDORS ON THE U.S.-MEXICO BORDER California border wall segments recommended for removal 78 Escondido Legend 78 U.S.- Mexico border 78 nn Wall segment recommended for removal NF National Forest U.S. Naval Reservation Santee Anza-Borrego Desert State Ewiiaapaayp Park 1592ft Reservation El Cajon Jacumba Mountains Cleveland 8 San Diego NF Wilderness Area GPS endpoint coordinates: 32.6315,-115.9389 to 32.6273, -115.99381 Chula Vista Campo Indian Reservation Tecate Tijuana Otay Mountain Wilderness Area 2 GPS endpoint coordinates: 32.5588, -116.8412253 to 32.5558, -116.877792 Playasde Rosarito 3 1856m California 0 10 20 Miles Basemap: SanGIS, Esri, HERE, Garmin, SafeGraph, FAO, METI/NASA, USGS, Bureau of Land Management, EPA, NPS, Esri, CGIAR, USGS 4 TAKE DOWN THE WALL: RECONNECTING WILDLIFE CORRIDORS ON THE U.S.-MEXICO BORDER Arizona Las Playas-Pinta Sands, Cabeza Prieta National Wall segment: Tucson Project 1:1 (4.3 miles) Wildlife Refuge, Yuma and Pima Counties Status and sources: Wall complete but with ongoing activity, When rare rain falls in the central part of Cabeza Prieta on-the-ground reports, January, 2021. (CBP map states National Wildlife Refuge, it flows into the ephemeral Las “complete.”) Playas lakes, located next to the international border. When the playas are wet, they become islands of green that host Quitobaquito Hills Spring Complex, Organ Pipe rare plants and animals, including the federally endangered Cactus National Monument, Pima County Sonoran pronghorn. Quitobaquito springs and pond in Organ Pipe Cactus The wall segment also cuts through El Gran Desierto National Monument are the only sites in the U.S. where the de Altar, the largest active dune system in North America, federally endangered Quitobaquito pupfish and endangered extending from the U.S. Pinta Sands into Mexico. Many Sonoyta mud turtle occur. The springs are critical habitat for plants and animals are found only in El Gran Desierto, the Sonoyta mud turtle. These oases are within the histori- including fringe-toed lizards, flat-tailed horned lizards, giant cally occupied range and potential recovery habitat of the Spanish needles and blue sand lilies. Vast fields of wildflowers federally endangered Sonoran pronghorn. Native American bloom on the dunes after winter rains, in contrast with the Tribes continue to hold ceremonies on Quitobaquito and use drier, surrounding desert area. Endangered Sonoran prong- its plants for ceremonial and medicinal purposes. The amount horn thrive on the abundant forage. of water in the springs was greatly reduced in 2020 by Removal justification criteria: Biodiversity, endangered withdrawals from wells drilled for border wall construction. species, protected areas (national wildlife refuge), water Removal justification criteria: Critical habitat, endangered resources (wetlands) species, water resources (wetlands) Wall segments: Yuma Project 3:1 (6.3 miles) and Yuma 3:4 Wall segments: Tucson Project 1:1 (7 miles) (5.0 miles) Status and source: Wall complete but with ongoing activity, Status and sources: Under construction, CBP map and on-the-ground reports, January, 2021. (CBP map states on-the-ground reports, January, 2021. “complete.”) Sonoran Pronghorn Corridor, Cabeza Prieta Wildlife corridors in Baboquivari Mountains and National Wildlife Refuge, Yuma and Pima Counties Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge, Pima County This segment cuts across an important seasonal migratory These two segments include the westernmost unit of critical pathway for endangered Sonoran pronghorn. Fewer than habitat for jaguar (the Southern Baboquivari subunit) and 200 of these ungulates remain in the U.S., and their ability adjoin Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge was to survive depends on accessing large, uninterrupted created in 1985 to protect and conserve the masked bobwhite expanses of land where they can find scarce water and quail, an endangered subspecies of the northern bobwhite forage in one of the hottest, driest places in North America. quail. The refuge protects 115,000 acres of Sonoran Desert They range across nearly the entirety of Cabeza Prieta grassland and its associated native flora and fauna. National Wildlife Refuge, Organ Pipe Cactus National Removal justification criteria: Critical habitat, endangered Monument and across the Gran Desierto de Altar and species, protected areas (national wildlife refuge), wildlife Pinacare Reserves in Mexico. Their survival depends on corridors utilizing their entire home range in both countries.