Deserted: Ecocide on the Arizona Border
Episode description
Rapid ecological destruction has been underway on the southern border of Arizona along some of the most pristine and inaccessible regions of the Sonoran desert. It isn't being done by poachers, crime syndicates, or undocumented immigrants. It's being done without serious public input, oversight, environmental impact studies, or objection by elected state and federal officials.
Over the past 2 years, photographer, John Kurc, has been documenting the work of the Trump administration to build a wall in remote areas, some with 70-90% inclines. Paradoxically, in order to build this barrier, roads must first be blasted into these mountainsides. And, as we know from examples around the world in other formerly pristine and remote places, when you build roads, the people will follow.
The impact on wildlife migration, watersheds, habitats, endangered plant and animal species, not to mention the increase in human migration in areas previously untravelled thanks to the new access courtesy of the federal government, are incalculable. Undeterred by the intimidation he's experienced at the hands of contractors, John's ongoing video documentation of the widespread destruction is shocking and suggests the scars upon this beautiful but fragile region will never heal.
John Kurc @iamKurc
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