Long-Nosed Bats Evict a Covey of Aliens- Enviro damage

(PHOTO: Coronado National Forest, Cochise County, Arizona.)

CABEZA PRIETA N.W.R., Ariz. -- Three years ago, the endangered lesser long-nosed bat had been ousted from a cave here, one of just four known maternity roosts in the United States, by illegal aliens who used the cave as a cool rest stop on their route north.

Now, the aliens are out of the cave, the bat is back -- and all it took was a fence.
Even as the U.S. Border Patrol and now the National Guard fight to keep people from crossing illegally into the United States, a secondary battle is being waged to keep some of the nation's most pristine lands and endangered species from becoming collateral damage.
"All the actions we try and do, a lot of it gets minimized or marginalized by the traffic we have to deal with," said Curt McCasland, assistant manager and biologist at Cabeza Prieta, a national wildlife refuge the size of Rhode Island that contains 56 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border.
Years of border-control efforts to the east and west have funneled illegal aliens straight into southern Arizona and across its three wildlife refuges, national forest and park land, an Air Force bombing range and the Tohono O'odham Indian Reservation.
It's a fragile ecosystem where car tracks or even walking trails can remain for decades after they are last used. And aliens leave behind abandoned vehicles and millions of pounds of garbage -- estimates run between 5 and 8 pounds per illegal crosser.
"Some areas are so polluted by trash and human waste that the cleanup has to be contracted to professional companies with employees outfitted with haz-mat suits," said Roger DiRosa, Cabeza Prieta's manager.
The conflict can also be dangerous. One-third of Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, which neighbors Cabeza Prieta and shares a 30-mile border with Mexico, is now off-limits to visitors because authorities do not feel they can provide adequate protection.
But those who take care of the federal lands are fighting back with increased attention and new techniques -- even if they sometimes worry about the choices they have to make, such as the bat-cave fence.
Illegal aliens started using the cave in 2002, chasing the 4,000 to 6,000 bats that use it away that year, and again in 2003. Mr. McCasland said they thought briefly about trying a gate in front of the cave, but research suggested the bats might still avoid the cave. and the refuge decided it couldn't afford to take a chance and lose the bats for a third year.
Some see the success of fencing in Cabeza Prieta as an obvious solution -- both to the environmental issue and the whole border.
"Fencing the cave brought the bats back. Fencing the border would be cheaper than the cleanup and would bring the environmental quality back," said Rep. Steve King, Iowa Republican, who has visited the cave. "A border fence could help lessen the environmental, economic, drug and crime impacts on American society by directing all traffic through the legal ports of entry."

Between a third and half of Cabeza Prieta's annual budget goes to personnel, equipment and repair costs associated with illegal immigration.
At Organ Pipe Cactus, it accounts for half of the $3.3 million annual budget, and takes up half of the $1.5 million budget at nearby Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge.
"That $1.5 million I get, Congress thinks I'm spending all of that on wildlife management. Well, not true," said Mitch Ellis, the manager at Buenos Aires. He said that money covers everything from salaries to replacing four government vehicles stolen, presumably by illegal aliens, so far this year.
Buenos Aires includes about five miles of the U.S.-Mexico border, and the main problem there is foot traffic -- some 200,000 to 300,000 illegal aliens that walk through the refuge each year -- while the major problem at the more remote Cabeza Prieta is vehicles cutting trails and being abandoned.
That was the case at Organ Pipe Cactus, until officials recently finished a vehicle barrier. That has cut vehicle traffic by 95 percent.
As bad as the aliens are, the Border Patrol also sometimes tears up the land in pursuit of illegal crossers, which has drawn the ire of some environmental groups. But officials here say they understand the job the Border Patrol agents are doing and are thankful for them.
At Cabeza Prieta, the bat cave isn't the only fight. The endangered Sonoran pronghorn, a deerlike creature that has the distinction of being the fastest land animal in North America, is caught in the middle of both a drought and the wave of illegal immigration.

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ALSO!
Biologists: Illegal immigrant trash feeding bear forays

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) -- At least four bears have been destroyed this summer after encroaching on humans in southeastern Arizona, and biologists say the trash dumped by illegal immigrants hiking through border mountains is part of the problem because it acclimates the animals to people.

Drought has caused shortages in acorns, juniper and manzanita berries that normally are dietary staples for black bears this time of year. Summer rains came too late to help produce more of the food sources that bears need as they prepare for hibernation, said Kurt Bahti, an Arizona Game and Fish field supervisor.

As a result, bears in the Huachuca Mountains and elsewhere have had to scrounge more, relying heavily on human food, said Tom Skinner, wildlife program manager for the Coronado National Forest.

Immigrants crossing through the forest leave behind trash and leftovers, tainted with human scent, that teach the bears that people mean food, experts said. And the numbers of crossers and the trash is growing. "The number of job seekers, drug smugglers and other illegal traffic coming through the mountain ranges has resulted in interactions that we're concerned may exacerbate human-bear interaction," Skinner said. "There's a tremendous amount of trash including food items that's being left on these travelways." [snip]