Opinion Piece


Opinion Piece
    
     The campaigns to protect natural parks and areas of beauty is one of the more common and ongoing controversial topics of our time. If we all took a moment to think about when the last time we heard about "protecting the environment" or "conserving areas of beauty" was, I can personally say we all have seen it somewhere in recent memory. This said, we all hear more about larger and more important national parks such as Yosemite, or even the Grand Canyon and how beautiful and almost problem free they are. Nevertheless, If you were to ask someone about "Maderas del Carmen" and how the fence across the US-Mexican border is jeopardizing it, a blank stare is all you might get. 


Maderas del Carmen is a natural reserve located on the border between Texas and Coahuila Mexico and encompasses an area of around 514,000 acres of land. The area has long been regarded by scientists as "one of the most biodiverse ecosystems in the Chihuahuan desert." (McKinny, B. 2006) Although Maderas del Carmen’s biodiversity is rich, the area was previously exploited for its natural resources, leading to barren land and event the extirpation of several species of plants and animals. This being said, how can a political disaster such as illegal immigration and establishing a fence on the border affect this fragile area? It's a relatively simple answer that most people tend to overlook when thinking about the establishment of the border fence: the fence itself only covers one-third of the US-Mexican border and is not established on the border of Maderas del Carmen and Big Bend National Park in Texas. 


So what does this mean for Maderas del Carmen exactly? It means that since all the preferred routes by illegal aliens is now blocked, the more desperate ones will take the risk of traversing through protected areas such as Maderas del Carmen into the United States. This comes with sever consequences. For one, the Maderas del Carmen area is already a fragile, slowly recovering ecosystem, and immigrants can run the risk of desecrating the park with litter, or trampling plants or animals. This can upset the natural order of the parks ecosystem. Second of all, because the park is very mountainous and traverse, many illegal immigrants that decide to brave the journey through Maderas del Carmen run the extreme risk of physical harm and even death. 


For the reasons stated, the United States should look to more peaceful and politically sound answers to our border security woes that don't harm people or natural reserves such as Maderas del Carmen. It is to be believed that the fence across the US-Mexican border should be removed and border security disputes should be solved with a true immigration reform. This would not only save the United States millions of dollars in tax payer money that would otherwise go to building and maintaining a useless fence, but would also protect Maderas del Carmen's beauty for future generations to enjoy. 

Resources
Mckinny, B. 2006. Room to Roam. TPWD Magazine. Retrieved from:http://www.tpwmagazine.com/archive/2006/nov/ed_3/ 
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