DAMMIT - My tax money IS being used to maintain a wall (of sorts)

[packman]

"Every year, the average American taxpayer pays half of a cent to the International Boundary Commission (IBC) for the sole purpose of deforesting every inch of the US-Canada border. With an annual budget of $1,400,000, the IBC ensures that the boundary will never be just an imaginary line."

http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/uscanada-border-slash

And it still let Justin Bieber cross over!!

[unblock]

1. because, uh, why exactly?

[malthaussen]

2. You shouldn't ask such questions.

Go stand in the corner and think patriotic thoughts.

-- Mal

[csziggy]

3. One point - Maine has stricter laws about hunting than Canada

On one of the game warden reality shows (Northwoods Law, filmed in Maine, but now cancelled) on Animal Planet, the wardens had a major problem with Canadian citizens crossing the unfenced border to hunt moose on the American side. On some stretches, the Canadians have hunting stands that overlook the bare border and will shoot across it to take a moose.

Keeping the line clear allowed the game wardens to watch for poachers and to enforce the law.

[unblock]

4. i suppose that makes some sense. shame about the trees though....

still, i would think there would be a less drastic way to mark the border.

maybe put in posts every 50 feet or so.


on the other hand, borders between states and municipalities are rarely so clearly identified, and there are similar issues of jurisdiction there as well. maybe not as weighty as international issues, but, still.... you just arrest the offender and if it's later determined that the offense was outside your jurisdiction you either release the guy or hand 'em over to the other jurisdiction.

[csziggy]

5. I worry more about erosion potenetial

Here where they do controlled burns the fire breaks tend to erode badly. When we bought this farm, a hunting plantation owned the land to the north and east. Every year they plowed new fire breaks along the property line just before they did their annual burnoff, every year more and more of the firebreak eroded.

After ten years at one point on our property line, the four foot tall fence line had been covered to the point it was less than three feet tall. When we re-fenced we put the top of the fence at five feet and left a foot space under the bottom edge. That allows the wildlife to go under the edge and if there is erosion, it can fill that space without making the fence too short to be effective.

While I appreciated the burnoff - it reduced the chances of uncontrolled fires and increased the wildlife, the erosion on the hilly parts was horrid. Since then the plantation traded off the land that bordered my farm, no more controlled burns, more understory growth that can easily feed forest fires, and less variety of wildlife - but less erosion. It's a trade off.

I guess since the border clearing does not remove ALL growth, just the trees that would obstruct the view they have less erosion that we had.