Forest Service official to focus on agency support for border issues

BISBEE — The Nogales district ranger for the Coronado National Forest was recently assigned to a newly created position as a borderlands liaison.

Keith Graves will plan and coordinate Forest Service support of federal, state and local agencies, including U.S. Border Patrol and Arizona National Guard, to improve border security and protection of natural resources on national forest lands, according to a press release. During a phone interview Thursday, Graves said the project “is designed so the Coronado can have a little more rapid response to Homeland Security’s needs.”

The Coronado National Forest has more than 54 miles of boundary with Mexico. It experiences significant damages to natural resources due to smuggling routes on sensitive desert landscapes, as well as illegal immigrants who start wildfires and leave behind trash.

In August 2006, officials completed a comprehensive coordinated border strategy detailing the infrastructure, technology and personnel required by the Forest Service to protect resources and the Border Patrol to control illegal activities along the border on national forest land.

“This strategy includes a number of projects, such as installation of electronic detection systems and upgrading existing roads and installing vehicle barriers — infrastructure that is vital to Border Patrol success in interdiction of illegal traffickers,” states the press release.

Graves will oversee interagency borderland activities that stretch across the Nogales, Sierra Vista and Douglas ranger districts. He said his new position is “basically a 120-day detail.” While he performs the special assignment, Kent Ellett, a forest range conservation staff officer, will act as Nogales district ranger.

“It is a whole different ballpark down here on the border with the Forest Service,” Graves said. “No one is really taking a lead except for the Coronado. So, we need to step up and have one voice. So, that’s what I am doing.”