Customs and Border Protection has prepared a draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for unspecified enforcement activities along the entire US - Canada border, from Maine to Washington. These could include new or expanded forward operating bases, fencing, roads, towers, and just about anything that they think of over the next decade or so. The PEIS is extremely vague on exactly what might be done and where. It can be viewed here:
http://www.northernborderpeis.com/about-the-peis.html
The public and interested organizations should offer comments, either online or at one of the scheduled public meetings along the northern border. Public meetings will be held from 7-9PM at the following locations:
October 4, 2011
Massena, NY VFW
101 W. Hatfield St.
Massena, NY 13662
October 6, 2011
St. Albans, VT
St. Albans Historical Museum
9 Church Street
St. Albans, VT 05478
October 5, 2011
Augusta, ME
The Senator Inn & Spa
284 Western Ave.
Augusta, ME 04330
October 4, 2011
Caribou, ME
Caribou Inn and Convention Center
19 Main Street
Caribou, ME 04736
October 11, 2011
Rochester, NY
Holiday Inn - Rochester
Airport 911 Brooks Avenue
Rochester, NY 15624
October 12, 2011
Erie, PA
Ambassador Banquet Center
7794 Peach Street
Erie, PA 16509
October 6, 2011
Detroit, MI
Holiday Inn Express
1020 Washington Boulevard
Detroit, MI 48226
October 17, 2011
Washington, DC
Crystal City Marriott at Reagan National Airport
1999 Jefferson Davis Highway
Arlington, VA 22201
October 3, 2011
Duluth, MN Holiday Inn
200 West First Street
Duluth, MN 55802
October 13, 2011
Naples, ID
The Great Northwestern Territories Event Center
336 County Road 8
Naples, ID 83847
October 5, 2011
Bottineau, ND
Twin Oaks Resort and Convention Center
10723 Lake Loop Road
Bottineau, ND 58318
October 11, 2011
Bellingham, WA
Hampton Inn
3958 Bennett Drive
Bellingham, WA
October 6, 2011
Havre, MT
The Town House Inn
627 1st Street West
Havre, MT 59501
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Border Wall Film Festival in Austin August 18
Austin Border Film Festival
Violet Crown Cinema * 434 W 2nd Street, Austin, TX
Thursday, August 18th, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm
Join the Sierra Club's Borderlands Team Thursday, August 18th for a free screening of 3 short documentaries that explore the issues and controversies surrounding the recently constructed U.S./México border wall
-Featuring Three Documentary Films and a short discussion to follow-
• Fencing the Border and its Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s gives an inside perspective on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s concerns about the wall's possible effects on wildlife and protected refuges in south Texas – 7 minutes.
• Wild vs. Wall, Sierra Club’s produced by Tucson filmmaker Steev Hise, is an overview of the environmental effects of current border policies, including insightful interviews and impressive footage demonstrating the long-term ecological effects of border infrastructure – 20 minutes.
• The Fence, Award-winning filmmaker Rory Kennedy’s HBO documentary features candid interviews with Border Patrol agents, ranchers, environmentalists and voices from both sides of the border security debate. Kennedy uses humor to highlight contradictions and politically-driven misinformation, as well as the ineffectiveness and costliness of the controversial border barrier – 30 minutes.
Admission is FREE
Donations to the Sierra Club Borderlands Protection Campaign gladly accepted at the door.
This film festival is dedicated to the memory of long time borderista Mary Grisco
Violet Crown Cinema * 434 W 2nd Street, Austin, TX
Thursday, August 18th, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm
Join the Sierra Club's Borderlands Team Thursday, August 18th for a free screening of 3 short documentaries that explore the issues and controversies surrounding the recently constructed U.S./México border wall
-Featuring Three Documentary Films and a short discussion to follow-
• Fencing the Border and its Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s gives an inside perspective on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s concerns about the wall's possible effects on wildlife and protected refuges in south Texas – 7 minutes.
• Wild vs. Wall, Sierra Club’s produced by Tucson filmmaker Steev Hise, is an overview of the environmental effects of current border policies, including insightful interviews and impressive footage demonstrating the long-term ecological effects of border infrastructure – 20 minutes.
• The Fence, Award-winning filmmaker Rory Kennedy’s HBO documentary features candid interviews with Border Patrol agents, ranchers, environmentalists and voices from both sides of the border security debate. Kennedy uses humor to highlight contradictions and politically-driven misinformation, as well as the ineffectiveness and costliness of the controversial border barrier – 30 minutes.
Admission is FREE
Donations to the Sierra Club Borderlands Protection Campaign gladly accepted at the door.
This film festival is dedicated to the memory of long time borderista Mary Grisco
Friday, July 15, 2011
Presentations on the border wall's impacts in South Texas August 22 & 23
The rugged deserts and mountains of Arizona’s southern border can be a treacherous place. Josseline was fourteen years old when she and her little brother crossed the U.S.-Mexico border, hoping to reunite with their mother in California. Walking for days, Josseline got sick and fell behind her group and the coyote that led them.
Three weeks later, Dan Millis was among the humanitarian aid volunteers that stumbled across Josseline's lifeless body in a remote canyon along the border. Since then, Millis has come to know that the costs of fatally flawed U.S. border policies extend beyond the tragic deaths of border crossers like Josseline. Walls push crossers into more remote desert terrain. Border ecosystems and the federal laws that protect them have also been cast aside by costly, ineffective, environmentally destructive, and inhumane attempts to "secure the border."
The Lower Rio Grande Valley Sierra Club is proud to co-sponsor presentations by Dan Millis in Brownsville on Monday, August 22, and in San Juan on Tuesday, August 23 respectively. Millis will tell how he was ticketed, dragged to court, and convicted of "littering" after leaving drinking water for migrants along border desert trails shortly after he found Josseline. Now working for the Sierra Club in Tucson, Dan will also discuss the environmental impacts of border walls and other enforcement measures. He will share stories of trans-national friendship and offer tips on which border walls are easiest to climb. Most importantly, Millis will speak up for the people and places victimized by border walls and enforcement-only politics and invite you to join in the fight.
Please join us Monday, August 22 at Galeria 409 in Brownsville, TX and Tuesday, August 23 at St. John the Baptist Parish Hall in San Juan, TX. Both presentations begin at 7:00pm. Refreshments will be served.
Monday, August 22 at 7:00pm Galeria 409 in Brownsville, Texas
Directions to Galeria 409, 409 E. 13th St.: From Expressway 77/83 in Brownsville, exit International and go south. Turn right onto Washington. Turn left on E 12th. Turn left on Levee St. Turn left onto E 13th. Galeria 409 is on the left in the middle of the block between Levee and Elizabeth streets. Parking is available at meters on Levee and Elizabeth, and there's a big parking lot on Levee and E 12th.
Tuesday, August 23 at 7:00pm St John the Baptist Parish Hall in San Juan, Texas
Directions to St John the Baptist, 216 W. 1st St.: From Expressway 83, exit Raul Longoria/Nebraska exit in San Juan and turn south on Nebraska. Turn right on 1st St. You will see the tower on the right. The Parish Hall is just past the tower. Parking is on the west and north side of the church complex.
Three weeks later, Dan Millis was among the humanitarian aid volunteers that stumbled across Josseline's lifeless body in a remote canyon along the border. Since then, Millis has come to know that the costs of fatally flawed U.S. border policies extend beyond the tragic deaths of border crossers like Josseline. Walls push crossers into more remote desert terrain. Border ecosystems and the federal laws that protect them have also been cast aside by costly, ineffective, environmentally destructive, and inhumane attempts to "secure the border."
The Lower Rio Grande Valley Sierra Club is proud to co-sponsor presentations by Dan Millis in Brownsville on Monday, August 22, and in San Juan on Tuesday, August 23 respectively. Millis will tell how he was ticketed, dragged to court, and convicted of "littering" after leaving drinking water for migrants along border desert trails shortly after he found Josseline. Now working for the Sierra Club in Tucson, Dan will also discuss the environmental impacts of border walls and other enforcement measures. He will share stories of trans-national friendship and offer tips on which border walls are easiest to climb. Most importantly, Millis will speak up for the people and places victimized by border walls and enforcement-only politics and invite you to join in the fight.
Please join us Monday, August 22 at Galeria 409 in Brownsville, TX and Tuesday, August 23 at St. John the Baptist Parish Hall in San Juan, TX. Both presentations begin at 7:00pm. Refreshments will be served.
Monday, August 22 at 7:00pm Galeria 409 in Brownsville, Texas
Directions to Galeria 409, 409 E. 13th St.: From Expressway 77/83 in Brownsville, exit International and go south. Turn right onto Washington. Turn left on E 12th. Turn left on Levee St. Turn left onto E 13th. Galeria 409 is on the left in the middle of the block between Levee and Elizabeth streets. Parking is available at meters on Levee and Elizabeth, and there's a big parking lot on Levee and E 12th.
Tuesday, August 23 at 7:00pm St John the Baptist Parish Hall in San Juan, Texas
Directions to St John the Baptist, 216 W. 1st St.: From Expressway 83, exit Raul Longoria/Nebraska exit in San Juan and turn south on Nebraska. Turn right on 1st St. You will see the tower on the right. The Parish Hall is just past the tower. Parking is on the west and north side of the church complex.
Monday, July 11, 2011
Write your member of Congress - Oppose HR 1505
An assault on America's public lands and environmental laws has been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives, bearing the ironic name "National Security and Federal Lands Protection Act" (HR 1505).
Over 30 federal protection laws would be waived in a zone that extends 100 miles into the United States from all land borders and coasts. Roughly two-thirds of the U.S. population lives in the area targeted by this waiver. Cities from San Francisco to Boston and national parks from Glacier to Everglades could be put at risk.
And if that weren't enough, HR 1505 prohibits the Departments of the Interior and Agriculture, which oversee our national parks, wilderness areas, and wildlife refuges, from taking any actions to preserve the natural integrity of the lands that they oversee if their actions or advice conflict with the desires of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
HR 1505 is using national security as a cover to attack environmental laws and protected lands. DHS has not expressed a need for these harmful provisions. In fact, DHS testifies that public land managers are not getting in the way of their operations. Last October, the Government Accountability Office found that "most [Border Patrol] agents reported that land management laws have had no effect on Border Patrol's overall measure of border security."
Visit the Sierra Club page to send an email to your member of Congress, telling them to oppose HR 1505:
https://secure2.convio.net/sierra/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=6239
Over 30 federal protection laws would be waived in a zone that extends 100 miles into the United States from all land borders and coasts. Roughly two-thirds of the U.S. population lives in the area targeted by this waiver. Cities from San Francisco to Boston and national parks from Glacier to Everglades could be put at risk.
And if that weren't enough, HR 1505 prohibits the Departments of the Interior and Agriculture, which oversee our national parks, wilderness areas, and wildlife refuges, from taking any actions to preserve the natural integrity of the lands that they oversee if their actions or advice conflict with the desires of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
HR 1505 is using national security as a cover to attack environmental laws and protected lands. DHS has not expressed a need for these harmful provisions. In fact, DHS testifies that public land managers are not getting in the way of their operations. Last October, the Government Accountability Office found that "most [Border Patrol] agents reported that land management laws have had no effect on Border Patrol's overall measure of border security."
Visit the Sierra Club page to send an email to your member of Congress, telling them to oppose HR 1505:
https://secure2.convio.net/sierra/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=6239
Friday, February 4, 2011
Sierra Club online action - write your Senator opposing more border walls
The Sierra Club has an online action that is now live. Click on the link, fill in your information, and send an email to your Senators telling them to reject any proposals to build more border walls.
o Border action alert update – Sierra Club live now! action.sierraclub.org/demintwall
Nearly 670 mills of fences and walls have already been constructed along our Southwestern International border, separating families, fracturing wildlife corridors, and scarring the region’s unique natural and cultural resources.
Now a number of politicians have called for yet another set of walls along the US / Mexico border, which would continue to come at great expense to local communities, ecosystems, and the American Taxpayer.
Please write your senators and say ‘NO’ to another set of border walls.
For more info. on the strong likelihood that the new Congress will push for more border walls, read the No Border Wall blog:
http://notexasborderwall.blogspot.com/2011/01/new-congress-will-try-to-build-more.html
o Border action alert update – Sierra Club live now! action.sierraclub.org/demintwall
Nearly 670 mills of fences and walls have already been constructed along our Southwestern International border, separating families, fracturing wildlife corridors, and scarring the region’s unique natural and cultural resources.
Now a number of politicians have called for yet another set of walls along the US / Mexico border, which would continue to come at great expense to local communities, ecosystems, and the American Taxpayer.
Please write your senators and say ‘NO’ to another set of border walls.
For more info. on the strong likelihood that the new Congress will push for more border walls, read the No Border Wall blog:
http://notexasborderwall.blogspot.com/2011/01/new-congress-will-try-to-build-more.html
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Border Film Festival in Tucson Dec. 11
Border Film Festival
The Loft Cinema
Date: Saturday, December 11, 2010
Time: 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM
Address:
3233 E Speedway Blvd
Tucson, AZ 85716
If you'd like to attend this event you can RSVP online.
http://action.sierraclub.org/site/Calendar?id=148602&view=Detail
Much of the American public is unaware of the devastation caused by U.S.-Mexico border policy. The most destructive component is the newly constructed border wall. More than 600 miles of walls have been built from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico, fragmenting endangered species habitat, causing erosion and flooding, and tearing apart fragile ecosystems.
The wall also has a human toll. The border wall reroutes migrants into the remote deserts of Arizona where dehydration and exposure are rampant. As a result, the number of border-crossing deaths has more than doubled since 1995.
Join us at this film festival to learn more and to find out what you can do to help.
Admission is FREE!!
Sponsored by Sierra Club, Center for Biological Diversity, Coalition de Derechos Humanos, Defenders of Wildlife, No More Deaths, and Sky Island Alliance.
http://sierraclub.org/borderlands/
The Loft Cinema
Date: Saturday, December 11, 2010
Time: 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM
Address:
3233 E Speedway Blvd
Tucson, AZ 85716
If you'd like to attend this event you can RSVP online.
http://action.sierraclub.org/site/Calendar?id=148602&view=Detail
Much of the American public is unaware of the devastation caused by U.S.-Mexico border policy. The most destructive component is the newly constructed border wall. More than 600 miles of walls have been built from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico, fragmenting endangered species habitat, causing erosion and flooding, and tearing apart fragile ecosystems.
The wall also has a human toll. The border wall reroutes migrants into the remote deserts of Arizona where dehydration and exposure are rampant. As a result, the number of border-crossing deaths has more than doubled since 1995.
Join us at this film festival to learn more and to find out what you can do to help.
Admission is FREE!!
Sponsored by Sierra Club, Center for Biological Diversity, Coalition de Derechos Humanos, Defenders of Wildlife, No More Deaths, and Sky Island Alliance.
http://sierraclub.org/borderlands/
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Wild Versus Wall: The environmental impact of our border policy
Monday, November 29 · 7:00pm - 8:30pm
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
St. Andrew United Methodist Church
3350 White Bay Drive
Highlands Ranch, CO
a free screening of Sierra Club's documentary Wild Versus Wall in Highlands Ranch, CO!
Much of the American public is unaware of the devastation being caused by harmful U.S border and trade policies. The most symbolic and destructive infrastructure resulting from these bad policies is the newly-constructed U.S.-Mexico border wall. Over 600 miles of border wall have been built from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexi...co, fragmenting endangered species habitat, causing erosion and flooding, and tearing apart fragile ecosystems found within Wilderness Areas and Wildlife Refuges, National Monuments and National Forests, and other protected private and public lands.
This presentation begins with a screening of the Sierra Club border film, "Wild Versus Wall," which has been newly-updated for 2010. It shows the ecological effects of enforcement and infrastructure in the four states that share boundaries with Mexico. It also showcases the unique natural landscapes of our border southwest. The film demonstrates the ineffectiveness of this kind of enforcement-only approach to border security, and stresses the importance of addressing root causes such as unfair trade policies and quality of life issues.
Following the film, Dan Millis, Borderlands Campaign Organizer for Arizona’s Grand Canyon Chapter of the Sierra Club, will present a slideshow featuring more in-depth aspects of the areas that have been affected, different types of border wall, and its costs to taxpayers.
Born and raised in Arizona, Dan has worked on border issues there since 2005. He is also a volunteer with the border humanitarian aid group No More Deaths, and is the recipient of the 2010 Derechos Humanos Corazon de Justicia Award for environmental work.
To learn more about the Sierra Club Borderlands Campaign and take action, check out their website at: http://www.sierraclub.org/borderlands/
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
St. Andrew United Methodist Church
3350 White Bay Drive
Highlands Ranch, CO
a free screening of Sierra Club's documentary Wild Versus Wall in Highlands Ranch, CO!
Much of the American public is unaware of the devastation being caused by harmful U.S border and trade policies. The most symbolic and destructive infrastructure resulting from these bad policies is the newly-constructed U.S.-Mexico border wall. Over 600 miles of border wall have been built from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexi...co, fragmenting endangered species habitat, causing erosion and flooding, and tearing apart fragile ecosystems found within Wilderness Areas and Wildlife Refuges, National Monuments and National Forests, and other protected private and public lands.
This presentation begins with a screening of the Sierra Club border film, "Wild Versus Wall," which has been newly-updated for 2010. It shows the ecological effects of enforcement and infrastructure in the four states that share boundaries with Mexico. It also showcases the unique natural landscapes of our border southwest. The film demonstrates the ineffectiveness of this kind of enforcement-only approach to border security, and stresses the importance of addressing root causes such as unfair trade policies and quality of life issues.
Following the film, Dan Millis, Borderlands Campaign Organizer for Arizona’s Grand Canyon Chapter of the Sierra Club, will present a slideshow featuring more in-depth aspects of the areas that have been affected, different types of border wall, and its costs to taxpayers.
Born and raised in Arizona, Dan has worked on border issues there since 2005. He is also a volunteer with the border humanitarian aid group No More Deaths, and is the recipient of the 2010 Derechos Humanos Corazon de Justicia Award for environmental work.
To learn more about the Sierra Club Borderlands Campaign and take action, check out their website at: http://www.sierraclub.org/borderlands/
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