U.S.-Mexico Barrier Spurring More Illegal Foot Traffic, Enviro Damage

Craig Guillot
for National Geographic News

June 22, 2007

A year after a barrier was completed along its boundary with Mexico, Arizona's Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument has seen a significant decline in vehicle traffic from drug smugglers and illegal immigrants, officials say.

But while the barrier is stopping vehicles, it may also be prompting more people to cross the desert on foot.

Fred Patton, chief ranger at the monument, said that since the 30-mile (48-kilometer) barrier was completed in July 2006, it has been almost 100-percent effective in keeping out illegal vehicles.

The remote monument had been a popular crossing point for illegal immigrants and drug smugglers since 2001, Patton said.

Upwards of a thousand people a day were crossing through the park, as vehicles loaded with people and drugs barreled through the desert.

"We were getting multiple vehicles that were bringing in either narcotics or illegal entrants," Patton said.

"They were crossing into the park fairly randomly 24 hours a day. They were driving on park roads at high rates of speed and posing a threat to the public."

(Read related: "Arizona Park 'Most Dangerous' in U.S." [January 13, 2003].)

In addition to the human dangers, the effects of this traffic on the landscape have been profound.

Major trash dumps have formed that can be smelled hundreds of yards away, Patton said. And more than 300 miles (482 kilometers) of entrenched roads now run through the monument that have altered the flow of rainwater during the rainy season.

But while the barrier has virtually eliminated the vehicle traffic that led to these problems, it may be exacerbating other ones.

Patton suspects that the barrier may have actually caused an increase in foot traffic through the monument, because vehicle traffic is no longer possible.

Migrants on foot are responsible for large amounts of litter and waste, he said, particularly human feces and trash that accumulate at makeshift campsites.

"The trash piles up at the pick-up sites," Patton said, referring to spots where migrants await clandestine rides out of the park. "We've gone in some of these areas before and have taken out dozens of trash bags full of waste."

Mayhem Along "Devil's Highway"

Just to the west of Organ Pipe in Arizona, the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge shares a 56-mile (90-kilometer) border with Mexico. It's currently in the process of erecting its own barrier, which is slated for completion in December 2008 (see a map of Arizona's border parks).

Like Organ Pipe, Cabeza Prieta also saw an "explosion" of activity around 2001, according to refuge manager Roger DiRosa.

(See a National Geographic Adventure magazine feature about illegal activity along Cabeza Prieta's "Devil's Highway".)

Now there are approximately 500 miles [805 kilometers] of illegal entrenched roads in the refuge, along with 700 more miles [1,125 kilometers] of trails and loosely cut roads, he said.

In their pursuit of immigrants and smugglers on foot, Border Patrol agents—and the refuge's own rangers—have further cut into the wilderness.

"It's not just from smuggling activities. It's also from law enforcement," DiRosa said. "[They] have to interdict and just cannot ignore drug smugglers and illegals or search and rescue."

During summer downpours, these eroded roads create new water channels in the desert, virtually redrawing the maps of these protected lands, said Organ Pipe's chief of resources Mary Kralovec.

"We are concerned that the … flow is interrupted by these roads where the water will flow in and create its own wash," said Kralovec, who is planning to study the effects of the roads and migrants in Organ Pipe.

"That changes the whole pattern of hydrology [in the monument]."

As with Organ Pipe, Cabeza Prieta is also grappling with the effects of an increase in foot traffic. The Organ Pipe barrier might be partly to blame, DiRosa said, as the flow of migrants seems to have moved west from Organ Pipe to the neighboring refuge.

"It appears as if a lot of the [drug] traffic has gone from vehicles to backpacks. We've been picking up a lot of smugglers. The barriers [at Organ Pipe] didn't have any impact on who might want to cross on foot," DiRosa said.

People on foot discard trash across the landscape of the refuge, he added. Invasive plants—including buffelgrass and fountain grass that can spread fire and displace native vegetation—have also been tracked in from Mexico on the undercarriages of vehicles, on tires, and on clothing.

"I can't do it justice with words," DiRosa said. "I would say that if the Cabeza Prieta were being considered for wilderness status today, it would not qualify, [because] it is so damaged."

Rehabilitating the Desert

Now that vehicle traffic has been virtually put to an end at Organ Pipe, rangers there have an opportunity to think about rehabilitating the landscape.

The hundreds of miles of roads that have been cut through the area will likely not grow over for hundreds of years. Mining roads from the turn of the century can still be seen, said Organ Pipe's Karlovec.

"Once this settles, we do hope to start focusing on rehabilitation," she said. "How we do it and what we do we are not sure yet. Hopefully we can start rehabbing some of the roads."

Organ Pipe ranger Patton said that it is very unlikely that the 300 miles (480 kilometers) of roads will be restored to wilderness in short order, but the barrier has prevented the problem from growing worse.

He also pointed out that many of the trash dumps that had developed before the barrier was built have since shrunk.

"Many of these areas we have been focusing on, if you go back in there now, you're going to pick up [just] a couple of bags of trash. I see that as a major success," Patton said.

At Cabeza Prieta, DiRosa says that some areas can be rehabilitated over time with care and volunteers.

By knocking down the sides of the deep, entrenched roads and "brushing out" the area, water flow can possibly be restored so that the roads don't turn into rivers, he said.

"There's light at the end of the tunnel. If you have good weather, you'd be surprised how quickly some areas can recover," DiRosa said. "[Most of these roads] aren't going anywhere in our lifetime, though."

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