Defenders' Experts
Wildlife and Border Policy
One quarter of the 1,950 mile U.S.-Mexico border lies within public lands. This includes hundreds of miles within the National Park system alone, running through national treasures such as Big Bend National Park and Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument.
Continental Divide
Learn more about the impacts of the border wall on communities, wildlife and the environment in this new brochure featuring photography by the International League of Conservation Photographers.
Many imperiled species depend upon borderland habitat for their continued existence. In Arizona alone, the Border Patrol estimates that 39 species protected or proposed to be protected under the Endangered Species Act are already being affected by its operations.
Much of this country’s most spectacular wildlife, including jaguars, ocelots, wolves, and hundreds of bird species depend upon protected public lands along the border for migration corridors between countries.
Illegal border crossings and enforcement activities along the border are placing a tremendous burden on federal land management agencies and causing extensive long-term damage to natural and cultural resources. The 2006 Secure Fence Act would require the construction of a double-layer, reinforced wall along large sections of the southern border, stretching from just outside San Diego all the way to Brownsville, Texas, less than 30 miles from the Gulf of Mexico.
The effects of large-scale border wall construction on wildlife, clean water, clean air, and human health and safety could be serious and lasting.
In the Borderlands Project
In the Borderlands is a joint project with the International League of Conservation Photographers, with support from Defenders of Wildlife, the Sierra Club and the Felidae Foundation. This video highlights the impacts of the border wall the US is building along its southern border. Learn more about this project.
"On the Line" Report
- On the Line
Read our in-depth report on what’s at stake along the Arizona-Mexico border. - En el Limite
Lea nuestro extensivo reporte acerca de los retos que se enfrentan en la frontera Arizona-México.
Border Wall Impacts
Species at Risk
Many species of animals depend on the ability to cross the border between Mexico and the U.S. The following imperiled species would be affected.
- Cactus Ferruginous Pygmy Owl
- California brown pelican
- California least tern
- Chiricahua leopard frog
- Desert tortoise
- Elegant trogan
- Flat-tailed horned lizard
- Huachuca water umbel
- Jaguar
- Jaguarundi
- Kearny's Bluestar
- Least Bell's vireo
- Lesser long-nosed bat
- Light-footed clapper rail
- Masked bobwhite quail
- Mexican gray wolf
- Mexican spotted owl
- Ocelot
- Sonoran chub
- Sonoran pronghorn
- Yellow billed cuckoo
Places at Risk
Many federal lands would be adversely affected by a border wall.
- Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge
- Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge
- Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge
- San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area
- View slide show of border wall construction at the San Pedro River
Additional Resources
A Barrier to our Shared Environment. The Border Fence between the United States and Mexico
Una barrera a nuestro ambiente compartido. El muro fronterizo entre México y Estados Unidos
Published by: SEMARNAT (Environmental Department in Mexico) and El Colegio de la Frontera Norte
Summary: This book aims to redirect the debate over the border fence to a level where science and information are preeminent. By documenting the environmental impacts of the border fence, this book aims to promote holistic and long term analysis. Ultimately, it should serve as a facilitator of binational dialogue between the governments of the United States and Mexico, in a spirit of collaboration that will enable us to avoid the foreseeable damages to the ecosystems both countries share.
The book can be downloaded from the web in Spanish or English.
Border Legislation
Defenders of Wildlife is working to make sure comprehensive immigration reform and border security legislation includes protections for fragile ecosystems and sensitive wildlife along our borders. Defenders is also working to stop damaging bills that would further undermine protection of wildlife and wild lands. Finally, Defenders is also making every effort to ensure that the Department of Homeland Security has needed authority to transfer funding to the Department of the Interior to acquire habitat from willing sellers to reestablish wildlife corridors severed by the border wall.
Learn more about our border legislation work. >>
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Public lands belong to all of us, yet they and the wildlife that call them home are in jeopardy... 
