Less than 4 weeks into the new year and already there are new developments on the border:

The Wall Street Journal and other news outlets ran the headline recently, “Homeland Security Scraps Border Fence,” along with photos of steel border walls and barriers. Alas, we only wish this were true. In fact, the article refers to the SBInet “virtual fence” camera tower systems, a beleaguered project whose funding was already frozen back in March due to its failure to perform. Despite the misleading headlines and photos, there are about 650 miles of physical border walls and barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border, and more is still under construction. Worse, hundreds of additional miles of environmentally-damaging border wall could be proposed and passed by Congress in the next few months!

It’s not all bad news though. In South Texas, Audubon’s Sabal Palms Sanctuary is back in operation, despite having been walled off by Homeland Security’s levee-wall. In Big Bend National Park, a border crossing important to the local economy is scheduled to be reopened. Also, the Borderlands Team got some good press in San Diego City Beat’s audio postcard of our trip to the Otay Mountain Wilderness Area. To keep up with this news and more, check out our facebook group and click on the “info” tab.

A final note: For nearly two weeks now, our hearts and minds have been focused on the victims, families, and friends involved in the tragic shooting in Tucson, including border Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. More thoughts and the Sierra Club’s official statement on this disaster are posted on the Borderlands Team blog.

Thank you for caring about the border,

Dan

Take a look at San Diego City Beat reporter Kinsee Moran's audio postcard: A Ride-Along with Members of the Sierra Club Borderlands Team

Overview

Though I spent the first month deployed for Congresswoman Giffords’ re-election campaign, we were still able to get a lot of work done this quarter for the Borderlands Campaign, thanks to the efforts of the volunteers of the Borderlands Team and our partner organizations on this issue (we also got Gabby re-elected). First, the Border Film Fest in Tucson was a huge success! We also took another great overnight field trip to the border, due to the fantastic organizing work Elna and Jimmy put into it. Sierra Club’s Borderlands Team has been working to strengthen our partnership with all Chapters along the Mexican border, as we also continue to reach out to Chapters in the interior, especially along the Canadian border. Our relationship with the Activist Network helps fund the activities of the Borderlands Campaign, and we’re further developing this relationship for 2011.

Outreach / Education

Locally, our biggest and best event was the Border Film Fest that we co-hosted with several environmental and human rights groups at The Loft Cinema in Tucson on December 11. About 300 people were in attendance and we raised nearly $900 to support the campaign!

The border field trip was also great, once again thanks to Elna, Jimmy, and wisdom provided by Bev! As usual, a lot of driving (we stay within 15 miles of the border, mostly dirt roads from Sasabe to nearly Naco), and some complications with the lodging. Still, we’re learning to make the trip better and better, and all who attend learn a lot. Please see John Morgan’s article about the trip in the most recent Canyon Echo.

Our most substantial outreach trips and Wild Versus Wall screenings this quarter were in Denver, Hermosillo, Albuquerque and at Northern Arizona University, with all travel funded by last year’s grant from the Activist Network. In Denver I presented at St. Andrew United Methodist Church and to a student group at Auraria University. There was a very large and engaged group at the presentation at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, and an even larger and more enthusiastic group of scholars at the presentation in Hermosillo! There, about 200 students and professors saw Wild Versus Wall (with the updated version’s Spanish subtitles) and listened to my attempt at a slideshow in Spanish, which actually went pretty well. This was the Quinto Congreso de Biología conference, and I was quite literally mobbed after the presentation by folks who wanted more info, t-shirts, and wanted to get involved … they had to kick us out of the auditorium so that the show could go on! The trip to New Mexico was mostly about networking with the folks at the Rio Grande Chapter and the New Mexico Wilderness Alliance, but I also presented to a small group at the International Wildlife Rehabilitation Conference while I was there. Besides these larger travel events, I made six slideshow presentations to groups from No More Deaths, Naropa University, Notre Dame University, Verde Valley School, members of the Grand Canyon Chapter, and attendees at a Derechos Humanos border-focused event (where I also sat on a panel). Approximately 701 people attended this quarter’s presentations (including the Loft film fest), making a total of about 3,481 since I started with the project in mid-October, 2008.

Dan talks with Rocky Mountain Chapter Director Joshua Ruschhaupt at a Wild Versus Wall presentation in Denver

Other outreach and education activities I did this quarter included a trip to the border wall with the Notre Dame students. Also, other Borderlands Team volunteers, especially Sean Sullivan, presented Wild Versus Wall at events in Tennessee, Mississippi and San Diego.

Networking

We have been aggressively reaching out to the other three Sierra Club Chapters along the U.S.-Mexico border throughout the campaign, and this quarter we got all of them on board to support! The San Diego Chapter and the Lone Star Chapter put their money where their mouths are, each giving $2,500 to support the Grand Canyon Chapter Borderlands Campaign, and we are currently working with the Rio Grande Chapter to see if they are able to make a similar contribution. In addition to this important coalition building, we have continued to network with Chapters along the U.S.-Canada border, and have held several significant events in the interior of the U.S. and in Mexico.

Our ACTNET-BORDERLANDS listserv now has 1,288 subscribers, and our facebook group page has 1,359.

Being deployed with the Giffords campaign also gave us some networking opportunities, such as the tabling we did at the Democrats concert at Club Congress.

Media / Action

October 1 – Change.org blog post encourages folks to check out Wild Versus Wall

October 8 – Borderlands work mentioned in “Lay of the Land”

October 9 - interview with Dan of ASU Journalism School

October 15 - interview with Ben Ehrenrich, Slake magazine

November 1 – Imagine 2050 blog post re: ILCP exhibit in MS (go Sean!)

November 1 - Jackson Free Press: Sean Sullivan is Person of the Day!

November 11 – LTE in AZ Daily Star

December 1 - Phone interview with David Robles, ASU journalism student

December 8 – Border wall visit with Stephanie Barbey and Luc of Intermezzo Films, Switzerland

Action tally (volunteers let me know about actions they took):

Only 1 postcard, 2 phone calls and 2 letters to Congress, all asking for border mitigation…

Other

Fundraising: $5,980.96 in donations have been sent to my office or dropped in the donations basket this quarter, for a total of about $15,782.52 of such funds since the project began. The Borderlands Team has applied for three grants from the Activist Network for 2011: Similar to last year’s “Road Show” grant, we requested over $12,000 to continue to fund our outreach and education work. In addition, we also requested $5,000 to fund a Team meeting in Texas (like our successful 2010 meeting in San Diego), and $5,000 to support the Grand Canyon Chapter’s paid staff position. It’s important to note that, if awarded, this would be the first time that we have received funding from National to pay for staff time on this position.