dean knuth / arizona daily star

More Photos (5):

Other articles by Brady Mccombs:

14 Chinese apprehended trying to sneak into US Afecta a turismo violencia en Nogales Border agents find 2 illegal tunnels, seize 2 pot hauls 3 incidents yield almost 2 tons of pot along border Agents seize 3,900 pounds of pot in 3 incidents near Arizona-Mexico border Pot-hauling driver killed during chase southwest of Benson Man killed after fleeing Border Patrol checkpoint near Benson Chertoff hopes his 'gains' will stick Homeland Security chief's Tucson visit met by protestsI-19 checkpoint will be 'temporary' a bit longer

Health Care
Rio Salado College
PA's/Online Instructors Education
Assessment Technology, Inc
Social Studies Content Writer General
CORT
Warehouse Supervisor Construction
Komatsu Equipment Co
Mechanic General
CORT
WAREHOUSE/DRIVER

SASABE — Less than three months after bulldozers broke ground, construction crews are nearing completion of a seven-mile border fence that stretches across one of the busiest corridors in the nation for people- and drug-smuggling.

But critics say a land swap deal that allowed the Department of Homeland Security to complete the final 0.8 of a mile of the fence set a bad precedent, and was the last in a line of bullying tactics used by the agency to fast-track the project.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife officials say the land swap was the best resolution to the situation. Homeland Security officials say the expeditious construction of the fence is vital for national security and is required by the Secure Fence Act of 2006, said Barry Morrissey, spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection in Washington.

The Secure Fence Act calls for 700 miles of pedestrian fencing along the nearly 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexican border,

"The sooner we can apply these various tools, be it technology, be it fences, be it roads, be it lighting, the sooner we will achieve better control of the border," Morrissey said.

Phoenix-based Sundt Construction Inc. crews are a few weeks away from finishing the pedestrian fence that stretches from 4.5-miles east of Sasabe to 2.5 miles west of Sasabe at the foot of the Baboquivari Mountains. Sundt built the see-through bollard-style fence — 12-foot-high steel posts filled with concrete set 4-inches apart — for $31.5 million.

The fence and accompanying dirt access road have given the rolling hills of the Altar Valley a drastic makeover.

An international line that was once marked by barbed wire fences that blended in with the mesquites and cacti — and more recently, steel-rail vehicle barriers — is now clearly delineated by the dusty road and long, straight line of steel.

Critics charge that Homeland Security tried to hide what it was doing from the public and steamrolled the project through.

In July, federal officials issued a final environmental assessment for the project with a finding of "no significant impact" without publishing a draft or allowing public commentary, despite environmentalists' concerns about the effects on jaguars and pygmy owls, both protected species.

Tohono O'odham Nation Chairman Ned Norris Jr. said officials ignored the tribe's concerns about five cultural sites that were in the path of the fence and never responded to a letter addressing his concerns.

Last week, Homeland Security brokered a land swap with U.S. Fish and Wildlife and acquired 5.8 acres of Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge land on a 0.8-mile stretch of border needed to complete the fencing in exchange for an undetermined piece of land elsewhere.

Mitch Ellis, then manager of the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge, said the exchange was triggered after he rescinded a document that found the fence was compatible with the refuge use.

"The theme for border-wall construction in Arizona seems to be to rush these projects through, permit minimal public input in the decision-making process and construct the wall at all costs, including the costs to our wildlife refuges and conservation areas and the democratic process," said Matt Clark, southwest representative of Defenders of Wildlife. "It's outrageous that there's hasn't been more transparency."

Fish and Wildlife, which manages the Buenos Aires Refuge, says the land swap announced last week was the best resolution possible, according to Jose Viramontes, a regional Fish and Wildlife spokesman based in Albuquerque. The land swap was always an option and was not used to sidestep the rescission of permission from Ellis, he said.

Denying permission would have left a hole in the fence that would have funneled illegal immigration onto the refuge, and could have led to use of a waiver that exempts border fences from any law, Viramontes said.

Secretary Michael Chertoff has used the waiver — granted to the secretary of Homeland Security by the REAL ID Act in 2005 — three times before; in 2005 in San Diego, in January of this year on the Barry M. Goldwater Air Force Range in Southwestern Arizona and in October on the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area in Southeastern Arizona.

"It's the only option that would have been a win-win," said Viramontes about the land swap.

Ellis said he understands why the decision was made, but the public should have been better informed about that.

"Nobody did anything wrong except that we sort of hid the process, and I'm not sure why we did it that way," said Ellis, whose move was not related to the land swap. "When we only tell part of it, people draw conclusions and assumptions that might not be true."

Fish and Wildlife's willingness to give up the land proves how much power Homeland Security has with the waiver, said Daniel Patterson, Southwest director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility.

"The Real ID act is a big threat, and DHS wields that like a club," said Patterson, an ecologist. "They (Fish and Wildlife) got squeezed. They probably do believe they got the best deal they could."

Norris agrees. "It gives them extremely too much power — the power to be unaccountable, the power to waive laws."

Clark and Patterson are worried about the precedent set by the entire process, especially the land swap and how that will affect other public lands along the border.

"The precedent is basically set that if there's a use that is incompatible with a refuge, then we'll just hand over our land to the Department of Homeland Security," Clark said. "I don't think that's any better precedent than waiving laws."

Find more coverage of border issues, including special reports on border deaths and security, at azstarnet.com/border