#MySantaAna: What Birders Can Do RIGHT NOW

Following our concerns about the construction of a wall on Santa Ana NWR, we asked our friend Ellen Paul, who has a great deal of experience in these matters, for practical advice on what birders can do in this situation. 

By Ellen Paul

It’s a very long shot but we must take it. Call or e-mail your members of Congress and ask them to stop the construction of a section of border wall across the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge. Yes, you’ve been inundated with calls-to-arms for the past six months. Every day brings a steady stream of e-mails, tweets, and Facebook posts exhorting you to call Congress. The pace will almost certainly pick up in the coming months and years.

This is different. This is no mere threat. This is happening. Right now.

The Texas Observer reported on July 14 that “For at least six months, private contractors and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials have been quietly preparing to build the first piece of President Trump’s border wall through the Santa Ana Wildlife Refuge…”

The planned wall would run nearly three miles. Its 18-foot structure would consist of a concrete base topped with a fence made of steel bollards. Plans also call for a road south of the wall and clearing refuge land on either side of the wall for surveillance, cameras, and light towers. The CBP has acknowledged that planning is underway.