(Tribune News Service) — The 458-mile wall the Trump administration built along the southern border did extensive damage to the environment and cultural sites that was made worse by fast-tracking that enabled the project to bypass protective laws, a government watchdog said in a newly released report.
Tighter deadlines and the suspension of laws such as the National Environmental Policy Act prevented managers from doing thorough assessments of effects and exploring options less detrimental to ecosystems, wildlife and Indigenous cultural sites, the Government Accountability Office said in a 72-page report.
Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump’s orders to make the border as impassable as possible forced managers to install barricades that blocked migrating wildlife and, at times, required crews to blast sensitive areas with dynamite to make room for the barriers.
The $15 billion project sliced through wilderness areas, national monuments, wildlife refuges and tribal lands between California and Texas, leaving what conservationist says is an irreparable scar on once pristine areas, even as President Joe Biden’s administration works to repair some of the damage.
“[The wall] has been catastrophic in big ways and in small ways,” said Michael Robinson, senior conservation advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity.
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