WASHINGTON – The federal government will take steps to protect local wildlife, agreeing to pay $1.2 billion to repair environmental damage and restart Pentagon projects suspended by border wall construction.

The lawsuit settled lawsuits filed against the Trump administration by 18 states and two private groups. The settlement, announced Monday, would also largely prevent further wall construction, requiring openings in the walls to allow rainwater and wildlife to pass through.

“This lawsuit is about accountability, it’s about defending the human rights of people who live on our borders, people who live on our borders,” said Ricky Garza, a border resident and Southern Border Communities Coalition attorney.

“It is fundamentally unfair that people living in this region are not treated equally and equally under the law because of border exemptions and other reasons,” Garza said.

SBCC was one of the litigants, along with the Sierra Club and 18 states except Arizona. The Sierra Club v. Biden, originally the Sierra Club v. Trump settlement, is intended to reduce the impact the construction has had on border communities and the endangered species found there.

“The settlement provides $45 million for border wall damage mitigation, including wildlife protection,” Garza said. “That means he donated about $25 million to purchase over 1,000 acres of land in California just for conservation purposes, and he donated over $1 million to wildlife research of all species.”

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Agreement It is asking the Department of Homeland Security to create wildlife walkways in the walls to allow wildlife to pass through 20 small openings and four large openings, including walkways in Pima and Cochise counties.

Eric Meza, border coordinator for the Sierra Club, said of the text, “It’s definitely helpful, but I think we need more.” “We were only able to negotiate a limited number…but it definitely has an impact.”

Large openings should be at least 5 x 7 feet to allow jaguars, black bears, bison, etc. to pass through. One of the walkways at the Cabesa Prieta National Wildlife Refuge in Pima County will have a ceiling height of up to 18 feet to accommodate the Sonoran Pronghorn.

Eight storm gates will also be installed along the border, five of them in Pima and Cochise counties.

DHS may temporarily close wildlife and stormwater passages in the event of a border security issue, but must notify the Sierra Club and SBCC within 48 hours to provide an explanation for the closure.

Meza said the placement of the walkways was highly targeted, based on input from experts who monitor species migration and know key intersections blocked by wall construction.

Construction of the wall has cut off several species from food, water and other resources, as well as breeding grounds they’ve used for thousands of years, Meza said.

“I hope that the positive results of these openings will encourage the government to open up more to these areas, or at least not build any more walls,” Meza said.

The settlement also requires DHS to eliminate the use of razor wires along the border and to consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service about the environmental impact that border surveillance lighting is having on wildlife, namely the Yuma project area.

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Neither DHS nor the Fish and Wildlife Service immediately responded to requests for comment on the transaction.

The settlement also includes $430 million to be returned to military construction projects that lost money to build the wall. These projects are in plaintiff states. California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont.

Some border construction funded through other channels can continue in Yuma County and parts of Texas, but the agreement states that all border construction funded by redistributed funds must stop.

Biden administration announced plans In 2021, we will halt as much wall construction as possible and return funding to Pentagon projects. Garza and Meza agree that the Biden administration may have helped settle the lawsuit, but it was the plaintiffs’ defense that ultimately secured Monday’s victory.

They also said, in Garza’s words, “The battle is by no means over. We are aware that construction is underway in many areas.”

“This is a success for border communities. This is something I really think future administrations, and even this one, should think twice about acting without consulting border communities,” he said. “This shows that accountability exists and that there are consequences if the regime tries to violate human rights at the border.”