The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is providing what they call "humanitarian services" for immigrants & OTM's illegally trying to cross the U.S./Mexico border through the Buenos Aires NWR through the use of watering stations....
From U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service --
Humanitarian organizations will be allowed to continue to provide humane water stations on Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge in southern Arizona. After a review of the proposed activity by refuge staff it has been determined that placement of water for use by those in need in the desert will help save lives and is compatible with the purpose of the refuge, which is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
In order to minimize environmental impacts, sites throughout the 118,000-acre refuge will be allowed for placement of stationary, 55-gallon water drums adjacent to roadsides and in already disturbed areas. Since 2001, three such sites have been
allowed on the refuge.
“Our decision to allow water stations on Buenos Aires was based on a thorough review of different approaches to provide water for humanitarian needs and minimize environmental impacts from each of those approaches,” said Benjamin Tuggle, Southwest Regional Director for the Service. “Placement of these water stations is yet another tool being used by the refuge to provide life-saving aid to those in need in a manner consistent with our conservation mission.”The refuge’s location along the international border with Mexico within the Altar Valley of southern Arizona provides a unique opportunity to protect remnants of a fragile desert ecosystem and to provide refuge for some of the region’s most imperiled species of plants and wildlife. However, in the past eight years, 25 people are known to have died on refuge lands while trying to cross the desert. Read more...
It looks like plants, wildlife and people illegally entering our country are more important than protecting the imperiled residents of AZ!