>Message: 18
> Date: Fri, 30 Aug 2002 15:21:56 -0700
> From: Dallen Timothy <dtimothy@...>
>Subject: Canada-US IBC

[snip]

>Recently someone (maybe Zoomer at Idaho-BC) asked about why the US-CA border
>vista wasn't cleared nor was there an apparent marker at a point where he
>crossed. Here's what I believe the situation was. There was a border marker
>somewhere near the crossing point. There always is. It might have been
>small. The IBC uses several different forms of boundary marker along US-CA.
>These range from one-meter-high obelisks made of cement and covered with
>pretty, small, colorful pebbles or one meter stainless steel obelisks. The
>latter are the most recent. They also use short obelisks about eight to ten
>inches tall grounded in a cement square base. Perhaps this was the case at
>that point but somewhat obstructed by vegetation. At some points along the
>border, there is simply a brass surveying disc embedded in cement, which
>would not normally rise above the grass line. This might account for the
>lack of a marker.
>
>Now about the vegetation. International law (US-CA) requires the vista to be
>cleared of all obstructions (human and natural) for ten feet on either side
>of the border. However, the IBC is very budget conscious and staffing is
>limited (learned all this from the report). So, each summer, and only in
>summer, three-five IBC crews are dispatched to some point at the border,
>where they spend all summer clearing vegetation with bulldozers, herbicides
>and chainsaws, and repairing border markers. There are rarely more than
>30-40 people every year working along this huge border, and only a small
>fraction of the line gets cleared every year. If I recall correctly, its not
>many kilometers a year. Therefore, there are many places along the border
>that don't get much attention, but say every 10 or 15 years or so. In the
>meantime, vegetation has a considerable amount of time to re-grow on the
>vista.

A confluence visit to 49N 121W shows examples of the border vista,
a boundary monument, and also indications of a crew working nearby
to clear the vista:
http://www.confluence.org/confluence.php?lat=49&lon=-121

-----------
Dave Patton
Canadian Coordinator
the Degree Confluence Project
http://www.confluence.org
dpatton@...
49°16'07"N 123°09'07"W