Report: Tiny agency falling behind on border maintenance
By David Sharp, Associated Press, 3/28/2004 12:30
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) A tiny agency responsible for marking and
maintaining the expansive border between the United States and Canada
has fallen so far behind that it may never catch up without more money
and resources.
The International Boundary Commission warns that border markers are
deteriorating and parts of the border are becoming overgrown by trees
and brush to the point that the border's location could be lost in some
areas.
The five-year plan for turning things around involves something the
Canadian and U.S. governments have failed to provide: more money.
The agency, which is funded this year with $1.23 million from the U.S.
government and a similar figure from the Canadians, will likely ask for
its budget to be doubled, said Michael O'Sullivan, Canada's IBC
commissioner.
''For a number of years we have formally recognized that we're losing
the battle,'' O'Sullivan said from his office in Ottawa.
The agency, consisting of two commissioners, six field engineers and a
small support staff, is responsible for surveying and maintaining more
than 8,000 monuments and reference points on the 5,525-mile border.
Its workers also are responsible for slashing a 20-foot-wide path
through woods. With no fence, the boundary has the appearance of a
utility easement with markers dotting the ground down the middle.
Created by treaty in 1925, the agency toiled in relative obscurity
compared to the larger International Boundary and Water Commission,
which is responsible for maintenance, flood control and other issues on
the southern border. The IBWC's budget is more than $30 million.
Then came the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks that brought fresh attention
to the northern border and underscored the importance of having a
well-defined boundary for federal and state law enforcement officials.
An overgrown border reduces the effectiveness of infrared detection,
observation scopes, snowmobiles, all-terrain vehicles and aircraft used
for monitoring purposes, said Marvin Foust, assistant chief patrol
agent for the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection in Spokane, Wash.
''There are some areas where the brush is getting thick,'' Foust said.
''It's more difficult to detect (border) intrusions if it grows too
much.''
Many U.S. residents are familiar with crossings in places like Detroit,
Buffalo, N.Y., and Blaine, Wash. But much of the border away from those
busy crossings consists of vast stretches of rugged wilderness that
includes woodlands, mountains and prairie.
Maine's 611 miles consist mostly of forests. New Hampshire has 58 miles
of border, and Vermont has 90 miles.
The commission completed a report this month that lays out what's
necessary to get the border back into shape.
A copy provided to The Associated Press chronicles a backlog of work
that suggests both governments have fallen short of their treaty
obligations of maintaining an ''effective'' boundary.
In addition, the agency contends the original, 80-year-old maps created
by the agency are in need of being updated.
''Each year that passes, we dig the hole a little deeper. It's not like
getting up to snuff would take that much money,'' U.S. Commissioner
Dennis L. Schornack said from Washington.
In the past, the six teams were working on a 15-year cycle for clearing
brush and trees and restoring markers.
The goal, outlined in the report, is to clear the border and to
complete all of the work within five years.
The additional money, if it is allocated at all, would go toward hiring
contract crews and replacing some of the outdated bulldozers and other
equipment, much of it army surplus from the 1960s and 1970s.
Schornack said the agency is roughly $1 million shy of what's need for
a ''reasonable budget.''
''Sooner or later, we need to put some real money to work,'' said
Schornack, who also serves as commissioner of the International Joint
Commission, which handles water issues on the northern border.
Any relief is at least a year away. The agency's U.S. budget will be
reduced to $1.15 million in the next fiscal year, so any hopes for
additional funding will have to wait for fiscal 2006, Schornack said.
Kevin Haskew, a field engineer in Houlton, said the lack of resources
makes his job frustrating at times. He has come to accept the
situation, but he still looks in wonder at resources given to other
agencies.
''You see these other agencies getting airplanes, new four-wheelers,
and new snowmobiles. And we're losing money every year,'' he said.
On the Net:
http://www.internationalboundarycommission.org