Butterfly Center Director: Feds Trespassed

The executive director of the National Butterfly Center in Mission said federal government officials trespassed last week on private property when they began surveying and clearing trees near the center for a potential border wall. A wall that Congress on Thursday voted to fund.

Marianna Treviño Wright said she encountered government contractors on July 20 working on privately owned undeveloped land that is part of the National Butterfly Center.

Her revelation on Thursday came on the same day that the U.S. House voted to authorize $1.6 billion to build the border wall.

Treviño Wright, who was with a client when she confronted workers last week, said the workers were clearing a 150-foot-wide zone on the private property.

"I came over the levee with a client who was bidding for vegetation affiliated with the project and I was just stunned to find these guys here. They had chain saws and tractors and big equipment," Wright told The Monitor on Thursday. "And I said 'What are you doing?’ And they said ‘Clearing the land.’ And I said: ‘That's MY land!’"

The incident happened a week after U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials confirmed work had begun at the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge.

Considered the “jewel of the National Wildlife Refuge System,” Santa Ana features some of the most diverse ecosystems in North America with more than 400 bird species and more than 450 plant species — and has been designated as a priority location for border wall construction by the government.

That effort was bolstered late Thursday when Congress voted to approve a bill that was attached to the defense spending bill that would allocate another $1.6 billion for border security construction.

Several members of Congress opposed to the bill said a wall was an ineffective way to secure the border.

U.S. Rep. Filemon Vela, D-Brownsville, was one.

“Making American taxpayers pay $1.6 billion for a portion of the wall is asinine. I understand Republicans want to give President Trump one win due to his failed six months in office, but this is just irresponsible,” Vela said in a news release.

“The border wall will rip our community apart, stomp on landowners’ rights, and on the wildlife of the Rio Grande Valley, including the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge,” he said.

The approval of the border security construction bill raises questions about how many more lands would be impacted locally.

Treviño Wright said she called a CBP liaison to complain and learned the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers were performing the surveying, along with a contracting crew that was actually clearing the trees and brush. She believes the crew was off their maps and did not realize they were on private property.

Jim Frisinger, spokesman for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, confirmed Monday that work had begun near the center but that it was limited to mainly surveying, marking spots and some boring of soil.

“The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ contractor has not performed any clearing or tree removals in the vicinity of the subject location,” Frisinger said in an emailed statement.

Frisinger said crews placed markings on the ground “as targets” to be visible from an airplane to do mapping.

Treviño Wright also shared a letter with The Monitor that she received Tuesday from Daniel W. Schroeder, the acting branch chief of Border, Air & Marine Operations with CBP, once again confirming the work in the area.

“Obtaining the appropriate real estate interest is imperative to completing this project. In April 2017, CBP began working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to conduct research by leveraging publicly available records online to gather land tract ownership data, electronic tax information, and online deed records,” Schroeder states in the letter.

In Schroeder’s letter to Treviño Wright he says USACE officials will work with appraisers and landowners to negotiate sale of properties.

“CBP anticipates beginning direct engagement activities with identified landowners before the end of FY 2017. This initial landowner engagement will include seeking permission to identify the boundaries of the property through a right of entry to survey agreement,” the letter states.

But Treviño Wright said her experience suggests the federal government may already be in violation of the spirit of that letter. She said she was completely taken by surprise at the crew’s presence on the private land.

"They gave no advanced notice. No proof of permission. Nothing,” she said. ”Right now we have more questions than we have answers."

Treviño Wright said that the center’s parent organization, the North American Butterfly Association, has hired a legal team and will likely file suit against the federal government.

"We've been totally deprived our due process by the federal government," she said.