STOP HARMFUL BORDER BILLS IN THEIR TRACKS!
URGENT!
HR 1505 was passed by the House of Representatives as part of HR 2578, an omnibus package of 14 unrelated, anti-environmental bills. It will now head to the Senate.
As amended and passed by the House, HR 1505 grants the Department of Homeland Security ultimate authority over all public lands nationwide, including all national parks, national monuments, wildlife refuges, and wilderness areas, in order to achieve “operational control” of the US border.
This bill authorizes the unrestrained use of motorized vehicles across all public lands, as well as limitless construction of security infrastructure, including roads, fencing, high-voltage lighting, and military-style Forward Operating Bases.
It also explicitly waives 16 environmental, cultural protection, and administrative procedures laws, including the Endangered Species Act, Wilderness Act, National Environmental Policy Act, National Historic Preservation Act, and the Administrative Procedures Act, on all public lands within 100 miles of both US borders.
If signed into law, this legislation will cause untold damage to the health and integrity of the Sky Island region, and will undermine the successful, common-sense collaboration already occurring with land managers working on the ground, surrounding rural communities, and nearby landowners. Visit our border law webpage for more information on this bill and similar legislation currently under consideration in Congress.
TAKE ACTION TODAY!
Contact your Senators and tell them that protecting our borders and protecting our environment are not mutually exclusive. Urge them to oppose SB 803 and any other legislation that waives federal laws under the guise of border security. Click here to read the bill.
Click here for more information on contacting your Senators.
**For more information on SB 803 and other harmful border bills, click here.
**For more information on why waiving laws is bad for the environment and unnecessary for border security, click here.
**For brief talking points on this issue that can be printed and shared, click here.
For more information please contact Jenny Neeley, Conservation Policy Director, at 520-624-7080 x27 or jenny@skyislandalliance.org