Border security proposals worry residents

NAPLES (AP) - Some North Idaho residents are concerned about proposals by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials to make the border area more secure.

An option to put up a fence in places along the Idaho-Canada border has area residents especially concerned.

Federal officials on Thursday held the meeting to gather public opinion on five potential options that range from doing nothing to building a fence with towers.

"No matter how small or short in distance, any unilateral action to build a fence sends the worst possible message to our neighbors and friends to the north as well as to the rest of the world," Idaho Republican Rep. George Eskridge of Dover said in a written statement to the agency.

The five options are part of a document called a programmatic environmental impact statement that will be under public review until Oct. 31. The agency said the plan's purpose is to give the agency "the flexibility to expand or alter its activities over the next five to seven years to maintain effective control of the northern border."

Jennifer Hass, an environmental planning chief with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said the impact statement is an initial step for border security improvements.

"If specific projects are contemplated, we can use this document as a planning tool," she said.

The next option after doing nothing is building new border patrol stations and upgrading existing stations. A third possibility is using unmanned aerial systems, ground sensors, and expanding the use of short-range radar.

A fourth alternative includes fences, cutting trenches, constructing towers and creating roads. The fifth option includes a mix of some of the others.

"What we found was moderate or minor impacts regardless of the alternative," said Bruce Kaplan, senior planner for Mangi Environmental Group. "The impacts we did find were mostly construction-related."

The group assists federal agencies and private organizations with environmental questions concerning proposed projects.

James Frackelton, Border Patrol spokesman, said drug trafficking and illegal weapons transportation are the main concerns.

"After we do risk analysis, we're going to do the thing that makes sense for the area and the taxpayers," he said. "We never intended the kind of fencing you might see on the southern border. This is more along the lines of fencing you would use on your own property."

Some participants at the gathering said security was already too tight.

"Probably half the people I know don't go to Canada anymore," said Johnna Exner, a Washington state resident. "It's too much of a hassle."