Trump Border Wall Threatens Archaeological Sites, National Park Service Says
Source: International Business Times
Trump Border Wall Threatens Archaeological Sites, Park Service Says
By Marcy Kreiter
@marcykreiter
09/17/19 AT 2:36 PM
The National Park Service warns the push to get President Trump’s border wall built could destroy nearly two dozen archaeological sites in Arizona’s Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument.
In a 123-page report obtained by the Washington Post, the park service warns replacing the current 5-foot barrier with a 30-foot steel wall could severely damage yet-to-be excavated areas of the monument southwest of Phoenix that boasts the remnants of Sonoran Desert peoples. Damage also is caused by border agents in all-terrain vehicles pursuing migrants and smugglers, the Post reported.
Desert peoples have populated the area, which was part of a prehistoric trade route, for at least 16,000 years, especially near Quitobaquito Springs, which also is home to the Quitobaquito pupfish and Sonoyta mud turtle. At least a dozen Native American tribes still claim connections to the area.
“We’ve historically lived in this area from time immemorial,” Tohono O’odham Nation Chairman Ned Norris Jr. told the Post. “We feel very strongly that this particular wall will desecrate this area forever. I would compare it to building a wall over your parents’ graveyards. It would have the same effect.”
Desert wetlands are just 200 feet from the border and scientists fear the water could dry up if groundwater is pumped out to accommodate the barrier’s concrete base.
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Read more: https://www.ibtimes.com/trump-border-wall-threatens-archaeological-sites-park-service-says-2828195
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Related: Border fence construction could destroy archaeological sites, National Park Service finds (Washington Post)