National Parks Rangers, Border Patrol Officers, and other federal and state law enforcement personnel are closer to having access to improved law enforcement facilities on the southern border thanks to an amendment by Congressman John Carter (R-TX31) that passed the House last night by unanimous voice vote.
The Carter Amendment to HR2584, the Department of Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2012 prioritized the completion of Joint Law Enforcement Centers on National Parks lands on the U.S. Southern Border with existing funds The new facilities are currently part of interagency agreements between the National Park Service (NPS) and U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (USCBP) but have remained in the planning stage since 2008. The Congressional Budget Office scores the amendment as budget neutral.
“Our Border Patrol success over the last several years in bringing more of our southern border under operational control has forced illegal activities into more remote areas like our National Parks,” Carter said. “In response, we have deployed more National Parks Rangers and Border Patrol officers to protect our National Parks lands and visitors, but have not given them adequate infrastructure for operations space or temporary detention facilities to support those efforts. This amendment will jump-start the interagency effort to bring these badly-needed facilities into reality.”
National Park lands have experienced a significant increase in marijuana seizures since 2008, with seizures up 69% and 25% over 2009 and 2010 respectively. Smuggling activities continue to destroy natural and cultural resources as violators drive off road, create smuggling trails, deposit trash, destroy vegetation, and endanger National Park visitors.
A field investigation initiated last August by Carter, a former Texas judge, found Rangers and Border Patrol agents at Big Bend National Park and Amistad National Recreation Area trying to operate out of old trailers and temporary portable buildings. Investigators inspected one 288 square foot building where eight Border Patrol officers are now assigned to work. The lack of sufficient detention space means that officers frequently have to transport lawbreakers up to 100 miles one way through the desert to the nearest jail, leaving park lands and visitors more vulnerable while officers are out-of-the-field.
NPS and DHS have interagency agreements in place for new Joint Law Enforcement Centers, but the uncertainty that has existed over the federal budget the past several years has made it difficult to coordinate interagency action on the projects. The Carter amendment prioritizes $1 million from existing National Park Service construction funds for advancing the projects, with remaining costs paid from previously authorized DHS funds.
NPS has completed environmental and cultural compliance impact studies for the projects at cost of $1.2 million, and will provide the land and operations and maintenance costs for the facilities. DHS is expected to provide the approximately $9.5 million in construction costs.
The amendment marks the fourth legislative reform introduced this session of Congress by the House Republican Conference Secretary as a result of the 2010 field report, which sought input from federal, state, and local enforcement officers in the field and private property owners on needed border security improvements.
