TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — The improvised shipping container border wall is coming down in the areas where then-Governor Ducey used the containers to plug holes in the border barrier.
Now environmentalists upset about the makeshift wall and want to be sure removing it will not cause more damage.
Environmental groups say the makeshift border wall blocked the habitat of rare animals like jaguars and ocelots and interfered with flow of critical streams like the San Pedro River.
Some are angry because the Forest Service has blocked access where workers and heavy equipment are removing the containers.
The Forest Service says it’s for safety. Environmentalists say it keeps them from making sure removing the containers does not make environmental damage even worse.
Robin Silver of Center for Biological Diversity says, “It's not a safety issue. We're not there to obstruct, we're there to witness and that's what's lacking at the moment. The Forest Service is just not helping us or helping you as news folks to report the news. They need to open it up and let us see what's going on. We don't trust them. That's the bottom line.”
The Forest Service says it may maintain the closure in the work area all the way to March 15.
The Forest Service also did not close the areas as the containers went in, and the Service should not close out observers as the containers come out, according to environmentalists.
Asked for comment, the Forest Service repeated that the closure is for safety. It referred all other border questions to the Justice Department. For Thursday, Jan. 5, the Forest Service has set an opportunity for media to view the container area in Cochise County.