RIO GRANDE INSTITUTE THUMBNAIL HISTORY – EXCERPTS
THE RIO GRANDE INSTITUTE: 1999-2009
Background and Focus: The Public Policy Information Fund a Texas non-profit 501 C 3 corporation created Rio Grande Institute (RGI) in 1999. It’s mission is to” foster appreciation of the unique economic, cultural and natural resources of the Rio Grande/Rio Bravo basin and to facilitate informed action to conserve those resources and to use them for the public good” . RGI staff and consultants are led by Tyrus G. Fain ,President and Bill Skeen, Executive VP & Director of Program Development. Board Chairman is Mary Yturria of Brownsville
I. Public Awareness: With Texas Humanities grants from National Endowment on Humanities RGI was principal underwriter for The Rio Grande, by Jan Reid (University of Texas Press, 2003) and Rio Grande- Filmography, by Caroline Frick (on-line at Archive of the Moving Image, U of Texas). Assisted production of MEXIPHOBIA, a documentary film, “Border Shutdown” a radio report for CBS Osgood Files and a number of TV, film and newspaper accounts.
II. Tourism Assets: The 76th Legislature authorized an assessment and plan on natural resources and cultural heritage assets of Rio Grande border to determine potentials for resource-based tourism enterprises, including sustainable cross-border partnerships. RGI and Sul State University completed the project in 2005. Legislation introduced failed but initiatives followed on heritage trails, roadway enhancement, binational conservation and job training.
III. Infrastructure for Cross-border Cooperation: In 2007 RGI became co-owner of the La Linda bridge, closed in 1997. This is the only Congressionally authorized highway crossing between Del Rio and Presidio. With its Mexican partner, Museo Maderas del Carmen, RGI is leading a binational effort to have the Obama and Calderon administration reopen the bridge and inspection facility to further cooperation on eco-tourism development and border security. La Linda is key for US-Mexico park to link Big Bend and the Sierra Del Carmen Mountains.
IV. Protecting the River- RGI is the federally authorized La Junta project leader on salt cedar management through biological control. With financing from World Wildlife Fund, Meadows Foundation, National Park Service, US Department of Agriculture, EPA and others RGI has partnered with the International Boundary and Water Commission, Big Bend National Park, Texas Parks and Wildlife, AMERICORPS and the USDA ‘s Agricultural Research Labs on major river restoration projects in the national and state parks, in adjacent Mexican federal protected areas and with private landowners in Presidio and Hudspeth counties. RGI is assisting Congressional staff on need for border-wide legislation on salt cedar, cane and invasive plants.
V. Disaster Prevention –RGI’s recently completed Cover the Border Hazard Mitigation Plan is a risk assessment and mitigation action blueprint for sixty-six local jurisdictions across fourteen counties on the Rio Grande border. It identifies over 1200 needed mitigation actions to save lives and property in the area. It highlights urgent needs for cross-border projects to prevent loss of life, property and interruption the border/NAFTA economy from transboundary impacts of likely floods and catastrophic accidents. The plan has been adopted by each local government and approved by FEMA and Texas’s Division of Emergency Management. Further, a dormant 1985 US-Mexico disaster accord has been replaced by a new agreement on Disaster Cooperation. RGI has a small pilot project underway on cross- border cooperation for a Transboundary Risk Identification and Mitigation Systems (TRIMS). Implementing the Plan’s 1200-plus mitigation projects and the new US-Mexico Agreement will require new federal authority and funding- probably through legislation.
Next Ten Years: In May 2009 the Board of Directors of RGI will hold its annual meeting to elect officers and adopt plans.
Posted 5-1-09
Program Activity – Public Information
From its beginning the Rio Grande Institute has sought to further public understanding of the place of the Rio Grande in the natural and cultural history of the two nations it joins. RGI has addressed the post-911 lockdown of the US-Mexico border in Mexiphobia, an independent documentary film produced by Nevie Owens and Buckner Cook of RedFrame Productions ( see: www.myspace.com/mexiphobia) and on the CBS News Osgood File(www.acfnewsource.org/science/rio_grande.html ). With support from the National Endowment on the Humanities and Texas Humanities RGI was the underwriter for a unique compilation of US and Mexican films concering the the Rio Grande/Rio Bravo (see Caroline Frick’s Rio Grande Filmography at www.archiveofthemovingimage.org). In 2004 the University of Texas Press published Jan Reid’s acclaimed compilation, The Rio Grande (www.utexas.edu/utpress/books). RGI and the Texas Concil on Humanities provided support for Reid’s research. In 2008 Tyrus Fain, RGI’s President was invited to testify before the Natural Resource Sub Committe on Parks of US House of Represenatives. He appeared at a July 10 th hearing on H.R. 6177 a bill by Congressman Ciro Rodriguez that will permit the National Parks Service to extend the designation of the Rio Grande Wild and Scenic River to the western boundary of Big Bend Nationasl Park. Fain testified on how the river’s role as a boundary historically has trumped the need for an informed stewardship; that has left us with a tortured river – its flow diminished, its quality degraded and its furture uncertain. Fain called for futher extension of the Wild and Scenic designation and a new approach to binationa cooperation when Mexico completes its designation of a parallel Monumento del Rio Bravo del Norte(http://resourcescommittee.house.gov/index) Entry revised 7-28-08
MORE ON CONSERVATION AND HERITAGE TOURISM
In 2002 at the request of the Texas Legislature, Sul Ross State University undertook the SRSU Rio Grande Heritage Tourism Project and turned to RGI for planning assistence. That was the beginning of an emergeging strategy for developing and promoting the tourism potential of the Rio Grande border. Over time the attnetion of RGI narrowed to the Big Bend – TransPecos area of Texas and the Sierra del Carmen of Coahuila and – of course – the Rio Grande.
Infrastructure: A key element of the strategy is the infrastructure provided by the bridge and border crossing that links the Big Bend to the village of La Linda Coahuila, in the foothils of Mexico’s majestic Sierra del Carmen. RGI has joined forced with a Mexican non-profit, the Museo Maderas del Carmen to lead a regional effort to have that La Linda bridge reopened (it was closed in 1997) to support a binational tourism initiative that will link the National and State park facilities in the Big Bend to the preserves and protected areas of the Maderas del Carmen.
The Texas Legislature passed legislation in 2006 that is facilitating the state’s involcement in planning the future of the La Linda bridge and working with the State of Coahuila to create a sustainable cross-border tourism industry that willl further resource conservation and open new opportunities for nature-based recreation.
COLINDA The Consortium of La Linda (COLINDA) is a private partnership that currently owns the US Section of the bridge and is working to have it re-opened in conjunction with a comprehensive economic development, conservation and border security plan. RGI and the Museo Maderas del Carmen created COLINDA in 2005. (Rev. 7-28-08)
MORE ON THE LA LINDA BRIDGE
Ownership: Since April of 2008 the US section of the bridge structure has been owned by the Consortium of La Linda (COLINDA), a Texas general partnership between two non-profit corporations, one Mexican and one US. They are the Museo Maderas del Carmen and the Rio Grande Institute. The Partnership managers are Tyrus Fain (US) and Lic. Alberto Garza –Santos (Mexican). The Mexican section of the bridge is owned by the Government of Mexico.
Purpose: COLINDA was created in order to protect the bridge from to a demolition order by the US and Mexican governments and to set the stage for its re-opening as infrastructure for a nature-based tourism and conservation initiative. The purpose is enhance the security and well being of area residents, provide enjoyment for visitors and protect the natural resources that are prime assets for the future of the Big Bend, Trans-Pecos and Sierra del Carmen.
Legal Status: The US government is authorized through an Act of Congress under Public Law to maintain a legal crossing and port of entry in support of the privately owned bridge across the Rio Grande that was constructed under the same statute. Since 1997 the crossing has been closed and the bridge barricaded under an order by the US government concurred in by the Mexican government through and exchange of notes. The US government is also authorized to order removal of the bridge if it is not being used.
Re-opening: COLINDA is considering an approach that would restore the bridge to limited operation in order to support cross-border day visits and scheduled trips in conjunction with a heritage-based tourism development program in the Big Bend-Sierra del Carmen Conservation Corridor. Use of the bridge will be limited by agreements between the owners and the relevant US and Mexican customs authorities to pedestrians and personal vehicles no larger than a pick-up truck.
Planning: The US government has informed COLINDA and the Government of Mexico of sixteen requirements that must be met before the bridge could be re-opened. (See attached). COLINDA has met the first requirement, consolidation of ownership of the US side. Work is underway in consultation with the State of Coahuila and the State of Texas to meet the remaining requirements.
Actions underway since April 2008: Implementation of the requirements for returning the bridge to service is underway through a series of workgroups and task forces organized by the owners and the state governments:
1. TxDOT Ad-Hoc La Linda Group – This group was created in 2008 to implement the provisions of legislation that was enacted by the 80th Legislature calling for state support for a public private initiative to re-open the bridge as infrastructure for nature-based tourism. Members include TxDOT, COLINDA, Big Bend National Park, TPWD and Brewster County.
2. SecTur Working Group – This public-private group includes the ministry of tourism, the state offices of conservation, public works and tourism development as well as COLINDA and private rancher-stakeholders.
3. Legal and Organization Team – The legal structure of this binational initiative is being reviewed and recommendation made as to the future of COLINDA, including governance and scope of activities. The legal team is headed by Lic. Guillermo Canales, Gen. Counsel of Museo Maderas del Carmen and Manuel Mendes of Bickerstaff, Heath and Acosta.
4. Border Security Working Group – COLINDA wishes to facilitate a dialogue between US federal, state and local law enforcement agencies that will play a vital role in the future of this bridge.
5. Legislative Support group (proposed) – Senator JM Ramon from Coahuila has offered to coordinate with interested US and Mexican legislators on formation of a joint effort to secure support for a La Linda initiative. A follow-up meeting with US Congressman Ciro Rodriguez is being planned. Rep. Gallego’s interest was expressed in his bill, HCR 164 and is expected to continue through the legislative support group.
In July 2008 a group of 25 Mexican officials and stakeholders visited the areas to be served by the bridge. A similar trip for US visitors hosted by the State of Coahuila and Museo Maderas del Carmen is pending (as of 5-1-09)
Planning work required by the US and Mexico is being scheduled to be completed in time for the Fall 2008 meeting of the US – Mexico Working Group on Bridges and Border Crossings.
Contact: In the US – Tyrus Fain at tfain@riogrande.org In Mexico – Alberto Garza Santos or Alfonso Martinez Munoz at amartinezmu@gen.tv
Rev. 5-1-09
SALTCEDAR (Tamarisk) CONTROL
What is saltcedar ? It is a non-native plant that was introduced from the middle east in the 1800s for ornamental and erosion control purposes. The most common species (Tamarisk R_) is highly invasive and has crowded out native vegetation and created monocultures along many Western US rivers, including the Rio Grande and Pecos. There is a larger saltcedar (Athel) that is less invasive and provides shade for homes and villages in the Chihuahuan desert.
Why biological control of saltcedar ? The spread of these plants is very difficult to stop. The use of herbicides is very expensive if employed on a plant by plant basis and environmentally dangerous if applied by aerial spraying. In its original habitat for thousands of years saltcedar proliferation has been limited by its native predator – a small beetle whose only diet is saltcedar foliage. Those insects exist in a symbiotic relationship with the plant that limits is propagation.
Scientists from the USDA Agricultural Research Service have been working for over twenty years to assure that these beetles can be safely released into infested areas in the US. Their efforts have paid-off and major saltcedar control and restoration work is having success on the Colorado, Green, Dolores and Carson rivers as well as Bealls Creek near Big Spring Texas. RGI worked from 2006-2009 under federal grants with USDA scientists and the Chihuahuan Desert RC & D Area to establish a colony of the beetles along the Rio Grande on the forgotten river stretch (La Junta de los Rios) upstream from the juncture of the Conchos tributary. Other organizations worked downstream from the Presidio through the Big Bend state and national parks to release the beetles and establish colonies.
Colonies of beetles were established in 2009-2010 and have begun defoliating saltcedar across infested areas from the La Linda crossing area (Adams Ranch) up the Rio Grande to the Candelaria community. These tiny creatures feed only on Tamrisk plants, providing a cost effective way to reduce saltcedar dominance and restore native habitat along the river. RGI cooperated on the La Junta project with Mexican government conservation agencies, the IBWC and private ranchers; its work was funded awards from the USDA, Meadows Foundation and World Wildlife Fund. Follow-up on RGI’s La Junta Project is being conducted by Sul Ross State University. Contact: Chris Ritzi, Chairman of the Biology Department (critzi@sulross.edu)
The Athel Issue - Although RGI was assured that the beeles being released would not feed on Athel Saltcedar plants reports surfaced after the La Junta project was concluded that beetles were defoliating Athel plants in a number of areas near Presidio. Although the RGI La Junta project has been completed and all releases of beetles were under direction of the USDA there is a continuing interest in this matter by RGI. Accordingly some work is being undertaken by RGI in consultation with IBWC to facilitate monitoring of Athel impacts and mitigate damage to shade trees in Mexico
