General Discussion

littlemissmartypants

(22,656 posts) Mon Feb 4, 2019, 09:17 PM Feb 2019

Protect the National Butterfly Center Go Fund Me

https://www.gofundme.com/protect-the-national-butterfly-center

PHOTO CAPTION: Red zone represents 70% of the NABA's property, which will be behind the border wall.

ICYMI: Congress funded 33 new miles of Border Wall in the 2018 omnibus Appropriations Act and contracts for the first 6 miles have been awarded to SLSCO . The real kicker is, the border wall is not being built on the border, but over 2 miles inland, moving the border of Mexico NORTH of the Rio Grande River (the actual border) and placing more than 6,000 acres of private property and public lands behind it in the newly created subdivision we've named MEXIGRO.

We need your help to protect our property !

The issue is not whether butterflies can fly over a wall, but whether private property (farms, businesses, homes) should be seized and destroyed for a project that does not serve the greater good or enhance national security; rather, it pushes the boundaries of Mexico north of the Rio Grande and makes America smaller.

At the National Butterfly Center in Mission, Texas, 70% of the land belonging to the nonprofit project of the North American Butterfly Center will be forfeited, to create a landing and staging area for illegal traffic on the shores of the United States.

In this land set aside for the protection of a remnant of native habitat, endangered species such as the ocelot, and the graves of Native American people who were present before the U.S. existed, everything will be desecrated, bulldozed and cut off from access by citizens and landowners; where gunboats could more easily be placed on the river to actually prevent traffic from setting foot on our soil.

Moreover, the federal government has waived 28 laws in order to expedite this.

The fact that we now live in a country where the laws duly passed by Congress may be waived for political expediency, eliminating all protections for people, water, wildlife and more, should terrify all Americans.

Please join us, today , to preserve and defend the National Butterfly Center, the only entity in Texas to sue the Trump Administration over this outrageous land grab!

Read the most recent developments in our ongoing battle against the seizure of private property for the border wall, here, and subscribe to our e-newsletter for updates.

Funds will be used for expenses associated with our on-going lawsuit against the federal government (travel expenses, depositions, filing and document fees, etc.); all efforts related to publicizing and resisting this atrocity; clean up and remediation of the damage, if we can't stop it (because the government's private contractors are NOT going to do that); and tearing down the wall, as soon as we're able! Your support is invaluable to our efforts to fulfill our mission, preserve our property, and restore it after construction, if it cannot be stopped. BUT IT'S NOT OVER, not by a long shot.

THANK YOU!

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https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/news/press_releases/2018/border-wall-10-09-2018.php

Trump Administration Waives Environmental Laws for Texas Border Wall

10-9-2018

RIO GRANDE VALLEY, Texas— The Trump administration today announced that it will waive 28 laws to speed construction of gates and other border-wall infrastructure in Cameron County, Texas, including areas adjacent to a national wildlife refuge.

The waiver is intended to speed border-wall construction by sweeping aside laws that protect clean air, clean water, public lands and endangered wildlife. This is fourth time the Trump administration has used the REAL ID waiver.

“This adds insult to injury for Cameron County, where the government has already run roughshod over property owners and decimated the environment to build border walls,” said Laiken Jordahl, a borderlands campaigner at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Trump’s latest waiver continues to chip away at crucial protections for people and wildlife in the Rio Grande Valley. They deserve clean air, clean water and the same legal rights as everyone else in the country.”

The waiver, which is to take effect Wednesday, allows the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to waive bedrock environmental and public-health laws in 11 different areas totaling 6.6 miles. Some of these segments are adjacent to the Lower Rio Grande National Wildlife Refuge and other nature preserves. Other segments run through agricultural lands and communities.

Private landowners in Cameron County have already had land seized without just compensation to build border barriers. Approximately 40 miles of existing border wall already divide communities, wildlife refuges and ranchlands in the county.

...Snip...

Laws waived:

The National Environmental Policy Act
The Endangered Species Act
The Clean Water Act
The National Historic Preservation Act
The Migratory Bird Treaty Act
The Migratory Bird Conservation Act
The Clean Air Act
The Archeological Resources Protection Act
The Paleontological Resources Preservation Act
The Federal Cave Resources Protection Act
The Safe Drinking Water Act
The Noise Control Act
The Solid Waste Disposal Act
The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act
The Archaeological and Historic Preservation Act
The Antiquities Act
The Historic Sites, Buildings, and Antiquities Act
The Farmland Protection Policy Act
The Coastal Zone Management Act
The Federal Land Policy and Management Act
The National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act
The National Fish and Wildlife Act
The Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act
The Administrative Procedure Act
The River and Harbors Act
The Eagle Protection Act
The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act
The American Indian Religious Freedom Act
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There has been not one publically called meeting for citizens affected directly by this issue. Not one.