Report Downplays Border Fence Impact

A proposed second border fence and patrol road along five miles of the U.S.-Mexico boundary in San Diego County would cause minimal environmental damage, though it would slice through a state park next to the Pacific Ocean, says a new analysis of the project’s impacts by U.S. immigration officials.

The proposal is for the most controversial segment of a 14-mile-long backup fence and accompanying 150-foot-wide patrol road between the two fences along the western end of the international boundary. The five miles that remain unfinished have stirred concern among environmentalists over the fate of endangered birds and plants. The plan also has drawn fire from state officials who fear irreparable harm to Border Field State Park, which would be bisected by the patrol road and the new fence.

“We have been consistently opposed and we remain consistently opposed,” said Roy Stearns, spokesman for the Department of Parks and Recreation. “As one of our people said, it will look more like a Guantanamo Bay prison fence than a park fence.”

The draft environmental impact statement, issued by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service this month, is the first formal description of U.S. construction plans, which have been roughly outlined previously. It deals with two stretches--31/2 miles next to the ocean and a 11/2-mile section near Otay Mountain, about 10 miles to the east.

The report said that adding a second layer of fence parallel to the existing border barrier will help U.S. Border Patrol agents prevent unlawful entries without harming endangered bird species, such as the least Bell’s vireo and California gnatcatcher, or two types of fairy shrimp.

“Four endangered species may be affected, but not adversely affected” by the construction, the draft report said. The INS analysis said species may benefit from the proposed fence and patrol road because fewer illegal entries would mean fewer people trampling sensitive habitat.

The all-weather patrol road and the second fence, which have been partially built along the 14-mile stretch, would allow agents to drive directly parallel to the border, rather than having to weave through hills and canyons nearby. A third fence was included in the draft, though officials said it may never be built.

The 1996 immigration reform law ordered that the extra border fencing and patrol road be built along the 14 miles ending at the Pacific. The area was once a hot spot for illegal crossings but has quieted dramatically since the advent in 1994 of Operation Gatekeeper, which doubled the number of agents and added fencing, border lights and underground sensors to deter undocumented migrants.

Environmentalists have expressed dismay at the massive excavation that would be required to build a level road across deep canyons. They have argued that such digging would disturb native plants and endangered birds.

But perhaps the most controversial element involves the plan to extend the additional fence through the 803-acre state park, which occupies the southwestern corner of the continental United States and sits amid a 2,500-acre, federally protected estuary.

Border Patrol officials had earlier indicated that they might run the planned fence across the park, but the environmental report officially described it as the proposed course.

The city of Imperial Beach has expressed concern that such a move could impede plans to boost ecologically oriented tourism there.

“In an era of binational cooperation on the environment, it really is a travesty that it can’t be worked out,” said Mayda Winter, the city’s mayor pro tem.

INS planners contemplated a separate design in which the fence would skirt a mesa containing the park’s picnic area.

But talks with state parks officials, who favored strengthening the existing fence instead of building a second one, fizzled without agreement.

Under the draft, the fence would cut through the picnic area 150 feet north of the fence now marking the international border.

But the report could prompt fresh negotiations. The border agency said it is open to further talks before a final version is issued this summer.

Park attendance has dropped from 230,000 in 1994 to 45,000 in 2000. Access has been hampered by persistent drainage problems that at times render park roads impassable.

A $6-million project by the California Coastal Conservancy is set to begin later this year to stem flooding by building sediment basins and fixing the road.