Tiny Endangered Fish Hampers U.S. Border Enforcement in Arizona
Posted on | May 18, 2011 | 16 Comments
When Audrey Hudson of Human Events e-mailed to ask if I’d be interested in her story about the pupfish, I sent her back a six-word message: “What the hell is a pupfish?” Here’s part of her story:
Federal agents must abandon their vehicles and chase drug smugglers and illegal aliens on foot through 40 acres near the Mexican border because of a pond that is home to the endangered desert pupfish.
It’s part of the agreement between the Homeland Security and Interior departments on how best to protect the ecosystem, frustrating lawmakers who say it also prevents agents from conducting routine patrols. . . .
The two-inch, bluish pupfish lives in the Quitobaquito Pond and spring channel in the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument west of Tucson, Ariz. . . .
Lawmakers are frustrated over the territorial battles between the government agencies that are charged with protecting the environment and protecting the border.
They say federal land managers are using environmental regulations to block the Border Patrol from accessing protected portions within 21 million acres on the southern border and 1,000 miles along the Canadian border . . .