Juanita and Leigh participated in the August 2012 Sierra Club Borderlands Team meeting based out of Tucson, Arizona. Team trips to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument and the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area revealed the impacts of Homeland Security infrastructure on borderlands wildlife corridors, ecosystems and communities. Of particular concern were the yearly rains that pass through desert washes currently bisected by vast sections of fencing. Many styles of fencing in use do not allow debris and sediment to wash through, as we saw at several sites with mounds on the south side of the fence reaching six feet high.

Photo: Leigh Barrick