USA: Bush’s supersize Berlin wall in Texas threatens wildlife, farming

Bush against the environment: here.

From Associated Press in the USA:

Texas border fence foes protest by kayak

By LYNN BREZOSKY – Associated Press Writer

ROMA, Texas — Dozens of people paddled down the Rio Grande in kayaks and canoes Saturday to protest a border fence they say will do little to stop illegal immigration but will destroy the impoverished region’s burgeoning bird-watching industry.

After their trip down the river, about 60 paddlers gathered with about 15 other people in an amphitheater, then held hands across the middle of the bridge to Miguel Aleman, Mexico. The protesters were mostly American but included the mayor of Miguel Aleman.

Protesters claimed the fence will harm endangered wildcats, cut farmers off from water and hurt cross-border commerce.

“It’s a Stone Age answer to a 21st-century problem,” said John Martin, a 64-year-old retired investment broker from Edinburg. “Why spend $3.5 million a mile to tear out habitat we spent millions of dollars restoring?”

Nancy Brown, a spokeswoman for a U.S. Fish and Wildlife refuge that could see a fence cutting through it, said Roma was chosen because it is the epicenter of a fence debate raging in deep South Texas.

Bird watchers worldwide know it as a spot to glimpse four birds seen only in Starr and neighboring Zapata County – the white-collared seedeater, red-billed pigeon, Audubon’s oriole and black-throated sparrow. Roma, a city of about 10,000, has built a new birding center just a block from the river to help boost tourism.

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