I dare any one of you to defend this:

”A bill dropped Thursday by Utah Sen. Mike Lee proposes to open all federal land within 100 miles of the country’s northern and southern borders, including wilderness areas, to roads, border agents, motorized boats, clear-cutting, and even structures.

”Lee and his cosigners say the bill would allow border agents to more effectively manage illegal immigration into the country. Sportsmen say the bill would completely overhaul the Wilderness Act and ’defile’ public lands.

“’Giving them complete authority within 100 miles of our border makes no sense. That’s a third of Montana,’ says Land Tawney, co-chair of American Hunters and Anglers. ’Do we want Big Brother setting up surveillance where we’re sitting around a campsite? Hell no.’

”The 1964 Wilderness Act prohibits all motorized use in wilderness areas, which is why crews cut trails with hand saws and fishermen paddle canoes. The nation’s more than 111 million acres of wilderness areas are also some of the last protected places for wildlife like elk, moose, mule deer, grizzly bears, wolves and countless other fish and wildlife species. And they’re some of the most precious land for sportsmen, Tawney says, including places like Montana’s Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex and the Boundary Waters Canoe Wilderness Area.

”If passed, the bill says it will allow the Department of Homeland Security to ’construct and maintain roads’ in wilderness areas, ’use motor vehicles, motorboats, and motorized equipment,’ and ’deploy tactical infrastructure,’ which the bill defines as observation points, remote video surveillance systems, motion sensors, vehicle barriers, fences, and roads, bridges. The 100-mile buffer also includes places like Glacier National Park, which borders Canada.”

Senator Lee Is Back with His Attack on Public Lands. This Time He Wants to Butcher the Wilderness Act Under the Guise of Border Security

Ridiculous…hopefully no traction with this bill.

Legislators do this as a way to make big bucks. Essentially open up land to big business for development.

T

Thought they already had cameras along the border, they’ve already widened the portages along the border, they CAN get permission from USFS to use a motor ( although they would most likely just do it). They have been on Sag, they do ride along in boat with USFS and county deputies on occasion an d most likely surveillance with drones and satellites.

They probably know the most likely places people would cross. The “need” for roads and what not is because they are too “manly” to make the effort to sneak up people which you could do more easily than roaring around the lakes and portages with motors….just my opinion.

Plus, who is gonna pay for all this construction? The government has no money.

To answer Mocha’s question, there are already bills introduced for our tax dollars to be used to make more roads and access in wilderness or roadless areas.

The “people” that would benefit the most would be corporations such as logging or mining. They can’t make enough money if they build the infrastructure themselves so they are lobbying for our tax dollars to pay for their access.

Corporate welfare at its finest.

T
Roadless area: Privatizing profit, socializing risk/loss.

That bill has about a zero percent chance of passing. Lee is a certifiable idiot.

I don't the laws for each agency, but I will tell you what I have seen. All of this since 911. Many customs and border patrol vehicle all over NE Minnesota. In the BWCA I have seen several Customs and Border Patrol helicopters well below flight minimums. Saw one land on Sag Lake. I have seen many LEOs on snowmobiles in the BWCA. Not always sure who they are with, DNR, FS, Sheriff, etc. Many times, it will be a US officer with a Candian one. This has been on border lakes.

There are differences between the ones with blue stripe and ones with green strip. The primary difference is that blue stripes indicate U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers working at ports of entry like airports, while green stripes signify U.S. Border Patrol (BP) agents who work in the border regions away from entry points. Both are divisions of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), but the stripe indicates which division's agents are in the vehicle and their primary work area

arctic: "That bill has about a zero percent chance of passing. Lee is a certifiable idiot.
"

Lee is the chairman of the United States Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.

The co-sponsors include Ted Cruz.

The Big Orange Gasbag is mulling the deployment of the 82nd Airborne to an American metropolis.

Do try to keep up.

Each federal wilderness area was legislated into existence with a stand alone bill. I don't think it is possible to undo wilderness protection with a blanket bill. Each individual wilderness area would have to have a bill to undo wilderness protections for that area. There is a good reason wilderness designation was structured this way. We are about to see the reasoning behind it.

sedges: "Each federal wilderness area was legislated into existence with a stand alone bill. I don't think it is possible to undo wilderness protection with a blanket bill. Each individual wilderness area would have to have a bill to undo wilderness protections for that area. There is a good reason wilderness designation was structured this way. We are about to see the reasoning behind it."

I encourage you to read Article I of the Constitution of the United States.

The intentions of the bill have me skeptical. That being said I absolutely 100% support the use of any means necessary to protect our border.