US Parkland closed to Americans...

[Westernskies]

Interesting development in the border security issue- the US Fish and Wildlife Service just announced a 3500 acre stretch of the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge in Southern Arizona is now off limits to Americans due to illegal immigration and drug trafficking. Unbelievable. So, instead of addressing the problem, the solution is to make it illegal for US citizens to visit a public park facility? Our tax dollars fund and support the National Park Service, National Forest Service, Fish and Wildlife, BLM, Border Patrol, etc. to administer and protect public lands. This closure is unprecedented.

Link below; for those who take automatically offense to anything from Fox News, I tried to find coverage of this on MSNBC and CBS, but couldn't. Please post a link to another source if you question "fair and balanced"...

FOXNews.com - Uptick in Violence Forces Closing of Parkland Along Mexico Border to Americans

 

[Bestwifeever]

....the US Fish and Wildlife Service just announced a 3500 acre stretch of the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge in Southern Arizona is now off limits to Americans due to illegal immigration and drug trafficking.....

From your source:

It was closed in October 2006 "due to human safety concerns," the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Wednesday in response to news reports on the closure.

Apparently it has been off limits since October 2006. Probably why it's not being reported on today.

 

[RunningBum]

LOL. Yeah, I don't question "fair and balanced". Never have. There's no question about it, it's not.

 

[Nova]

Here's another source:

Mexico's Drug War: "Portion of US wildlife refuge closed due to violent border activity."

 

[ls99]

Make the park into a free fire zone.

 

[Nova]

Several years ago, we drove the Devil's Highway which runs just north of the US border between Ajo and Yuma, AZ. It was a two night trip and we went with a another couple. We had to get three different sets of permits to travel the road. BTW, all three agencies were lined up about two hours into our trip to verify that we had all required permits.

We had camped in the desert many times before so we knew what to take with us. We were awakened during the night as border patrol drug the dirt/sand road with a set of tires chained together...no problem, they just want to be able to track footprints headed north. It was not too alarming, just loud and lit up light daylight. We heard noise in the night and knew it was illegal traffic heading for jobs up north. Still nothing to worry about. They just want to earn a living. Still OK.

Next day we saw a terrible cloud of dust rising from the beautiful desert floor (it's not flat there, many hills with beautiful cactus and desert vegetation). About 45 minutes later, a border patrol helicopter showed up and quizzed us rather extensively about what we were doing and what had we seen. There are sensors (trip wires) that have been set up to alert border patrol, and it takes 45 minutes to get from Yuma to the sensors. Border patrol knows it and so do the drug runners. By the time border patrol showed up, the runner was probably already in Ajo. After we showed our papers and proved that we had permission to be where we were, the agent relaxed and visited with us for a few minutes. We were all wide-eyed in disbelief as he told about encounters with the drug runners. His helicopter was one of those small bubble jobbies and highly vulnerable to bullets. Yes, he'd been shot at and no he doesn't get that close anymore. Yes, he's actually encountered the runners (high speed, highly modified trucks that can cross the unpaved desert with no problem) and chased them south. He said he watched the federales opened the gates as the runner approache the border...and that ended the "chase"...not allowed to continue into Mexico.

Night fall found us a little unsettled. Again, we heard the border patrol drag the dirt road, again we heard people making their way north, and again we were not molested....sleepless, but not disturbed.

We finished the trip the next day and were relieved to reach Yuma. We knew several people who had made the trip before and never worried about their safety. It is a beautiful 4X4 road, but we won't be making that trip again. Our adventure was while Fox was still president, before the real drug war started. Nope, won't be making that trip again.

 

[haha]

That is nice open country, suitable for tanks.

And that is what we should deploy there, and air cav too. And drones.

This is pure crap!

Ha

 

[CuppaJoe]

It may be little consolation, Westerskies, but next time to go visit your Federal Reserve Bank, there is lots of good National Park Land within easy back packing range.