Paradise Lost: Sabal Palms Santuary to close due to border fence construction

BROWNSVILLE - Ask Jimmy Paz about the border fence, and he'll point to a patch of sabal palms that rise more than 20 feet.

"When it's built," said Paz, the manager of Brownsville's Sabal Palm Audubon Center, "(the fence) will be almost as tall as those trees."

If the border fence is constructed along its proposed path, the center - and the largest tract of sabal palms left in the nation - will be south of the barrier. After some debate, officials at the Audubon Society have decided that the sanctuary would have to be closed permanently.

"There's no way we could operate," said Anne Brown, executive director of Audubon Texas. "We would have a full-time employee living south of the fence, and there's no way we could allow that."

The Sabal Palm Audubon Center, 527-acres of lush native vegetation, was opened in 1971. The sanctuary receives more than 4,000 visitors annually, many of whom travel thousands of miles for a chance to spot a rare migratory bird. In 1995, Gary McBryde, an economist at Texas A&M-Kingsville, estimated that tourists spent $1 million annually on visits to the sanctuary.

In May, Brown met with officials from the Department of Homeland Security, who told her that a fence would be erected north of the center. But because the barrier will not be built on the sanctuary's property, DHS can begin construction without offering compensation - or revealing details - to the Audubon Society.

In locations where DHS is forced to purchase land either for construction or for an easement, the department is providing satellite images of the fence's future location.

"They realized that they didn't have to contact us...and they didn't have to do studies because the fence runs north of our property," Brown said.

The Department of Homeland Security has alluded to the possibility of an entrance gate, but Audubon officials say that's not a fair compromise.

"We don't want to put the responsibility of managing a gate on our staff," Brown said.

Now, Brownsville residents are left to contemplate what will be lost if the Audubon Society closes the sanctuary.

"For years, we've used Sabal Palm as a classroom," said Elizabeth Heise, an associate professor of environmental science at the University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College.

"Without a guardian, we risk losing this fantastic habitat," she said.