Border Patrol Vet Endorses Doña Ana Wilderness Bill
Monday, August 9, 2010
LAS CRUCES, N.M. - An expert with border security in his blood recently made a visit to New Mexico to share his views on a bill now in Congress that would add new wilderness and conservation designations to some areas along the border, including the Organ Mountains. Some opponents of the proposal now working its way through the Senate say they're concerned it could impact national security by limiting the border patrol's access to the area.
But Ron Colburn, retired Deputy Chief with the Border Patrol and a third-generation border patrolman, says that recent changes to the bill to allow more access to law enforcement and the Patrol have satisfied his concerns.
"This is a good example of how you can protect America and the American homeland at the border, while also protecting publicly-stewarded land."
Colburn says that the language now in the bill gives the Border Patrol the access it needs to key areas.
"In order to provide the right mix of staffing, agents, boots on the ground, tactical infrastructure, be it fence, vehicle barrier, whatever that may be, and smart border technology. "
Colburn says he's spoken to his former higher-ups in the Border Patrol about the wilderness bill.
"And they're telling me that with the language in there, they are satisfied that they will be able to accomplish the current and future layering-on of the proper resources to continue to secure America's border and improve border security."
The Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks Wilderness Act would create more than 300,000 acres of Wilderness and National Conservation Area, including the Organ and Robledo Mountains and parts of Broad Canyon. Earlier this summer it was modified to address security concerns by allowing vehicle access for law enforcement within five miles of the border.
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