Posted on 04/14/2006 8:55:43 AM PDT by HiJinx
SIERRA VISTA — The first of a number of signs warning people that certain areas of U.S. Forest Service land are routes for smuggling and illegal immigrants went up Thursday in Carr Canyon.
Bill Wilcox, fire manager of Coronado National Forest’s Sierra Vista Ranger District, said the idea for putting up signs came out of the forest’s leadership.
The signs will let visitors be alert, he said.
The sign states: “Travel Caution. Smuggling and illegal immigrants may be encountered in this area.”
There will be 47 signs placed throughout the Coronado National Forest.
For one area resident, it is time for people who do not know the area well to be aware of potential dangers.
“I live there,” said the woman, who asked to be identified only as Anni, as she pointed to her home close to the Forest Service boundary.
Saying she runs up the dirt Forest Service road into the canyon, Anni, who was just completing her daily five-mile jaunt, remarked it is not unusual to encounter signs of drug-smuggling and illegal-immigrant traffic.
Not too long ago, about 100 people “marched through my yard,” she said of the illegal immigrant traffic that comes out of the canyon.
The debris left by those engaged in illegal activities, including American citizens involved in drug smuggling, is disheartening, Anni said.
“There’s enough used clothing to start a secondhand store,” she said.
Chris Milich, the forest’s off highway vehicle manager, said that besides Carr Canyon, signs will be placed in Miller Canyon and Montezuma Pass in Cochise County, as well as Parker Lake, Harshaw Canyon and Kino Springs portions of the Sierra Vista Ranger District in Santa Cruz County. The forest also includes land in Graham and Pima counties.
The object is to put the signs up leading into developed recreational areas.
Milich came to Arizona two years ago after working with the Forest Service in Oregon.
“I didn’t know that much about illegal activities in the forest here,” he said.
Wilcox said that while most people who have lived in the area for a long time know about the illegal problems, tourists and newcomers are not as aware.
Milich added that many canyon areas, such as Carr, are visited by bird watchers and the signs are designed to make to be more aware of their surroundings.
Wilcox said the signs are not meant to discourage people from enjoying the forest.
“What we want is for people to be careful and cognizant of where they are,” he said.
Enough clothing to open a second-hand store...
100 people tramped through my back yard...
Visitors may not be aware...
That's why I'm here!
I'm in your world. Good post!
I know...I can't believe some of the things I've seen up there in Carr and Garden Canyons.
That's almost a haiku!
Gee, and not a single ICE agent within a hundred miles.
The illegals are just enjoying National Forest land that you and I are to scared to enjoy anymore!AWB
We have hundreds, if not thousands of them working here. But I'll let you in on a little secret. The people who were to go looking for Osama Bin Laden in Afghanistan trained here. Our terrain is nearly identical, and very difficult to patrol.
That's the primary reason I'd like to see the fence go up. Several Orders of Magnitude more effective in stopping the traffic, and cheap as all get out when you think about it.
Yeah, well, I'm not quite sophisticated enough to truly pull that off.
Maybe next time!!
They could have done a little on-the-job training out at the dozens of protest marches the last couple weeks. It's not like they couldn't find them. They might also want to mark May 1st on their calendars.
Thank God the government is hearing our pleas to do something. Write your member of Congress today and demand more signs.
OK, this issue almost more than any other associated with the invasion makes my head spin 360. The legacy we had with our federal lands is unparalleled in the world - and now the lands are trashed and we are essentially locked out.
Hey, I know...line the border with them, with the message on the US side...!
What they want is for the US to be overrun with illegals, and they won't care who gets hurt until someone they love is killed. Even then, if there's a way to blame the US, they will. We're not 'compassionate', we're 'racist', or both. (Think like Cindy Sheehan.) More democratic voters, told they've been victimized, cheated, etc.. They'll demand reparations paid to Mexico, well, they're already demanding that all Gringos get out.
Wow! I remember running up the canyon that was uphill of the main (original) parade ground when I attended the Military Intelligence Officers Advance Course back in 1982. A lovely quiet place to run back then.
Is this anywhere around PIMA county?
I am torn from spending the day at the border OR going to Phoneix with a head of lettuce!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
sw
Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Now we have to be warned to stay out of our national parks because of illegal border crossing.
Insanity. We need a turnover of the Republicans in Congress. Terrible. Just terrible this situation that has developed.
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