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...Like his fellow Arizona border land managers, DiRosa said he is practicing "triage - trying to figure out what to sacrifice to save the whole." Of the 1,200 miles of illegal roads and footpaths, some 450 miles are entrenched, the denuded desert pounded out to "moon dust." Some tracks are 100 yards wide and, even if abandoned, will take several generations to return to wilderness. When it rains, they turn into vast dry creek beds, distorting the rainfall patterns. Beyond the roads are staging areas so polluted with human waste and garbage that DiRosa must bring in commercial cleanup crews...
...DiRosa says "50 to 60% of my budget" is focused on border issues, not wilderness protection. He jokes that he has love-hate relationship with the Border Patrol - where illegals go, the Border Patrol follows, further impacting the wilderness. "It's a Catch-22 - we are joined at the hip," he said. "But if the Border Patrol was not out there it would be a war zone...
...park ranger at neighboring Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument was killed by drug smugglers. Vehicle barriers, which allow animals to pass back and forth, are now in place along parts of the Arizona border. More are planned and will soon be protecting Cabeza Prieta. But drug smugglers have adapted and DiRosa said there has been an increase in backpacking gangs. On the Mexican side, conservationists face the same challenges - one large Mexican refuge has several clandestine airstrips operated by the cartels, which operate with impunity...
...Still DiRosa insists, "You can't put a bar on this border. Anything you put is nothing more than a lock that has to be watched. We need detection technology, patrols." Retaining open borders for wildlife may mean using several approaches, including vehicle and pedestrian barriers in some areas, technology, drones, radar and more human patrols in others, he said...
...some area residents say concerns about endangered wildlife and loss of habitat are smokescreens for pro-immigrant sentiment. "The real issue for people who live on the border is that cattle are being killed, cars are being broken into and water lines are being cut," said Michelle Dallacroce, a self-described Arizona mother and U.S. Air Force veteran who heads Mothers Against Illegal Aliens (MAIA). "What's more important than a human life...