The United States House could vote this week on a package of bills being called the Conservation and Economic Growth Act.
The legislation would give the U.S. Border Patrol wide-ranging access to lands managed by the National Park Service, the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, and other federal lands that lie within 100 miles of an international border.
Voyageurs National Park and many others fall within the 100-mile swath.
The access is needed, sponsors say, so the Border Patrol can have greater success controlling access to the United States.
Critics, including the National Park Service, the Koochiching County Board and International Falls officials, say the proposals would throw out many valuable environmental laws and pose a threat to the National Park System.
Environmental laws and regulations set aside by one piece of the package, H.R. 1505, include The Wilderness Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, the Endangered Species Act, the National Historic Preservation Act, the Antiquities Act, the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, the National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act, the Fish and Wildlife Act, the National Park Service Organic Act, and the National Parks and Recreation Act, among others.
Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, the main sponsor of the legislation, said drug and human trafficking continues to occur on federal land.
“The trails leading in the upwards of 100 miles north of the border speak for themselves,” said Bishop. “The only way we are ever going to reach our goal of having a truly secure border is by allowing the Border Patrol to access and patrol the federal property where the incursions occur. This legislation is an important first step toward that goal.”
In July, 8th District Congressman Chip Cravaack commended Bishop for introducing the bill.
“This common sense legislation would allow federal Border Patrol agents to have operational control, and access to the border,” said Cravaack in July. “Currently these agents are hamstrung from being able to actively police these areas because of outdated policies that were intended to protect the environment, but have actually hurt the land in some areas of the country and further exposed our porous borders.”
Cravaack called Voyageurs National Park a national treasure and said he’s “completely committed to keeping it as beautiful as it is today, but I am also committed to keeping it safe to all those who are lucky enough to visit. We simply have to allow these agents to do their jobs and eliminate all this bureaucratic red tape which is all too present in Washington, D.C.”
In October, the Koochiching County Board expressed concern about the proposal, which would allow the federal government to create roads, fences and other facilities on park lands without following the environmental rules that others must follow.
Also at that time, VNP Superintendent Mike Ward told the board that the measure would waive the normal environmental review processes and not allow comment by state, federal or local agencies or the public on proposals. He noted that park service administration testified against the bill.
Ward said the missions of both Homeland Security and the National Park Service can and are being carried out through collaboration now and the legislation is not needed on the northern border.
International Falls Mayor Shawn Mason said Tuesday that city officials echo and support the position of the county board, Ward and the National Park Service.
“It sounds absurd and anti-American not to have the ability to have public comment on what this legislation would allow to have happen,” she said. “Circumventing the public on an issue as important as this is simply un-American.”
The National Parks Conservation Association officials say this package is misguided, over-reaching, and unnecessary.
“No government agency should be above the law, yet H.R. 1505 would allow the Department of Homeland Security unfettered authority to ignore laws that protect our fish and wildlife, national parks, forests, and historic sites. The proposal even waives the Administrative Procedure Act, which prohibits federal agencies from engaging in arbitrary and capricious treatment under the law,” the parks advocacy organization said in a prepared statement.
“Ironically, the federal agency that would receive this unfettered authority said it does not want it, doesn’t need it, and shouldn’t have it. According to Homeland Security Secretary (Janet) Napolitano, this legislation ‘is unnecessary, and it’s bad policy,’” said the NPCA.
News reports note that in the past, the Government Accountability Office has looked into the question of whether environmental regulations and laws are handcuffing the Border Patrol in its operations and concluded they are not. The GAO has found, the rugged landscape of the Southwest and initially poor communications between various federal agencies have impeded progress.
According to the most recent GAO report, which had been requested by Rep. Bishop and which was based on materials gathered between December 2009 and October 2010 while illegal immigration and drug trafficking along the border continued to be a pressing issue, apprehensions of illegal aliens peaked at 1.65 million per year in the late 1990s before dropping to a low of 540,000 in 2009. The decline was attributed to fewer jobs for illegal immigrants in the United States as well as increased border control, the GAO noted.
As to Rep. Bishop’s contention that environmental laws such as the Endangered Species Act and National Environmental Policy Act were impeding the Border Patrol in its task, the GAO report found that while these regulations at times led to delays and restrictions for Border Patrol agents in accessing federal lands, “22 of the 26 Border Patrol stations reported that the border security status of their area of operation has not been affected by land management laws.”
