Environment & Energy
Related: About this forumWhere Trump border wall rises, these ranchers see defeat
Source: Washington Post
Where Trump border wall rises, these ranchers see defeat
By Nick Miroff
Photos by Carolyn Van Houten
MARCH 6, 2020
RODEO, N.M. When ranchers and environmentalists were fighting each other over the future of Western rangeland a generation ago, a group of families here along the U.S.-Mexico border joined to seek a middle path.
They founded the Malpai Borderlands Group, working with big-money foundations to put conservation easements on tens of thousands of acres. The agreements protected critical desert habitats from development and industry while providing tax breaks to allow traditional ranching to continue. The model was hailed as a breakthrough.
William McDonald, a fifth-generation Arizona cattleman who led the effort, received a MacArthur genius grant in 1998 that cited his efforts to create ecologically responsible cooperation among government regulatory agencies, conservationists, scientists, and commercial ranchers in the West.
Today, a few miles from the site where bulldozers and excavators are building President Trumps border wall, McDonald, 67, said he feels defeated, and filled with regret. Decades of political wrangling and consensus-building his lifes work are being flattened.
I feel like Ive let down the generations to come, because were going to have that ugly scar out here, McDonald said. It just makes me sick.
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Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/2020/03/06/where-trumps-border-wall-rises-ranchers-see-scar-range/
gab13by13
(21,290 posts)and call a fence a wall?
SergeStorms
(19,192 posts)Will forever have Trump's name associated with it. Trump will go down in American history as an ugly scar upon our nation. I hope it proves to be a cautionary tale of what can happen to a great nation when they take their liberty for granted. I hope future generations remember this as the darkest time in our history, when fascism and populist nationalism almost destroyed the wonderful beauty of America's promise.
That is, unless we destroy our planet through improper stewardship of our natural resources first. As the supposed "top of the food chain" we're as destructive and ugly as Trump's wall.
cstanleytech
(26,280 posts)that they put their party and their quest to gain more power in this country in front of doing the right thing and standing up to him.
Blues Heron
(5,931 posts)Rancher dude- if you didn't vote for Hillary - you need to suck it up and get over it. If you did vote for Hillary, you should have done a better job convincing your buds out there not to vote for dipshit donnie.
On edit -he's a conservative puke! Hahahahahahhah! Oh dude you are one of the stupidest morons on this planet! I LOVE THAT YOU ARE BUTTHURT FROM YOUR GUY'S RACIST WALL HAHAHHAHHAHHAHHAHHAHHAHHAHHHAHHAAHAH This is where conservatism should be and apparently is painful. Loser. Enjoy your 30 foot monument to American racism.