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ILoveParks - News          
November 18, 2003
Published here with Permission from the Christian Science Monitor

Big Bend's big problems

Drought and smog imperil a national treasure, heightening calls for cross-border conservation.

By Kris Axtman | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

BIG BEND NATIONAL PARK, TEXAS – Jon Bohach knows the frustration. As a longtime river guide, he remembers when rafting down the Rio Grande, with its roiling haystacks, was a wild adrenaline rush. Now, it's more like canoeing in a bathtub. In fact, if the boat goes over, all you have to do is stand up - and you won't even get your shorts wet.

A decade of drought and greater water use on the Rio Grande have been turning some stretches of the once-mighty river into dry gravel. In May, it stopped flowing in Big Bend National Park for the first time since the 1950s. "People call and ask about a raft trip, and you tell them, 'Well, the river is really low and canoeing is about all you can do on it right now.' Then you hear a click," says Mr. Bohach, his eyes hidden from behind sunglasses and a cowboy hat.

But tourism is not all that's hurt here in one of the nation's largest and most remote national parks. Plants and animals, which depend on the river, are also threatened. There are days when air pollutants from coal-fired power plants on both sides of the border create the highest concentration of sulfates and the worst visibility of any Western national park.

Operating with a budget shortfall of more than $6 million a year, Big Bend is routinely considered one of the top 10 most endangered parks in the US. Now, to help preserve it, park enthusiasts are trying to revive an idea nearly seven decades old: the creation of an international park.

Getting the US and Mexico equally invested in Big Bend, the thinking goes, will make for more effective, more holistic preservation of the salmon sandstone cliffs, the wide brown plateaus, and the pink-snouted peccaries that look like pigs with long gray hair.

"Ecosystems do not stop at a border," says Sharon Cleary, head of international programs at the National Park Service in Washington. "You may be trying to protect half of it, while losing the other half."

And degradation of one half of an ecosystem eventually leads to degradation of the other half - as is the case in Big Bend.

Blame that straddles borders

But observers say Mexico should not be held solely responsible for the West Texas park's environmental problems. Many days, the pollution that obscures the magnificent gray-green vistas and the rolling, cratered plains comes from as far away as El Paso, Houston, even the Ohio River Valley. And water from the Rio Grande is being siphoned off in large quantities on the US side of the border as well.

"In the past, it was so easy to blame it on Mexico. But studies show that 66 percent of the air pollution is coming from the US," says Jim Nations, vice president of the National Parks Conservation Association's State of the Parks program. His organization just released a report detailing the extent of the problems in Big Bend and calling for the establishment of an international park in the area.

Currently, there are 169 binational protected areas in 113 countries. This would be the second in the US, after the 1932 establishment of Waterton-Glacier International Park along the Canadian border. The idea for a similar park along the Mexican border here in the Big Bend area was first proposed in 1935, but negotiations were interrupted by the start of World War II.

When President Franklin Roosevelt finally established Big Bend National Park in 1944, he said: "I do not believe that this undertaking in the Big Bend will be complete until the entire park area in this region on both sides of the Rio Grande forms one great international park."

For its part, Mexico has taken significant steps in recent years to preserve the land across from Big Bend. In 1994, then-President Carlos Salinas designated 500,000 acres of the Maderas del Carmen area as a national preserve, but the Mexican government never purchased any land and it remained in private hands.

Two years ago, a Mexican cement company bought 136,000 acres to be set aside for a wildlife refuge, and today, the idea of an international park has the backing of Mexico's new parks director.

For the US, an awkward time

But experts agree that reviving the idea comes at a particularly bad time for the US. Since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, border security has been a top priority - even in parks that bump up against national boundaries.

At Big Bend, for example, informal border crossings have been shut down, and visitors are no longer allowed to cross into the United States though the park at Waterton-Glacier. Congress provided border parks with an extra $2.5 million in security funds last year.

"Since 9/11, the international border has become less porous rather than more porous," says Craig Allin, a political science professor at Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa. "So I'm surprised to hear anyone talking about this idea in a progressive way."

Dr. Allin, a specialist in wilderness preservation and management, thinks the idea of an international park is good in theory. But in practice, he says, "interagency cooperation is not all it's cracked up to be."

That doesn't mean the need for cooperation is not there - especially along the US/Mexico border, he says. "Often, there is less development along the Canadian border. By contrast, parks across from Mexico frequently have enormous population press and poverty. So the park service is trying to maintain the quality of the ecosystem under situations that make that impossible to do."

Signs of progress

But officials at Big Bend say there have been some success stories in recent years. Black bears, for instance, were extirpated through hunting and loss of habitat by the early 1950s and placed on the Texas endangered species list in 1987. Today, there are between 25 and 30 bears in Big Bend - and they've come, ironically, because low water levels in the Rio Grande meant they could cross into the park from Mexico.

Desert bighorn sheep and peregrine falcons, whose populations were also eradicated from the park, are also beginning to make a comeback.

"These are things that we are really proud of," says Big Bend National Park Superintendent John King. While he strongly supports the idea of an international park, he also believes that most of the 300,000 visitors that come to Big Bend each year still enjoy themselves - even if they're aware of the environmental problems threatening the area.

Keith Gardner is one of them. He and his wife, Bobbie, had heard of Big Bend all their lives and are finally spending a week here. They've been on a Jeep tour, a canoe tour, and hikes across the park's 800,000-plus acres.

"We are loving it," says Mr. Gardner, sweating and smiling after a canoe trip through the Santa Elena Canyon. "But when we were driving into the park that first morning, we saw all this smog. It felt like we were back in Dallas."

Peaceful Neighbors Eye U.S.-Mexico Peace Park

By Barbara Novovitch

BOQUILLAS DEL CARMEN, Mexico (Reuters) - A short ride across the Rio Grande in a rowboat called "La Enchilada " begins an exploration of breathtaking desert and mountain contrasts where conservationists on both sides of the U.S.-Mexican frontier are working to create a binational peace park.

It has been nearly a century since U.S. troops crossed the border in pursuit of Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa, but illegal immigration, narcotics wars and trade disputes still sully relations between the two nations.

So Mexican ecotourism entrepreneurs Mauricio Brittingham and Alberto Garza Santos have invested $1.5 million to create a 50,000-acre private nature reserve as part of the peace park where visitors can bike or hike on mountain trails through Coahuila fir and Arizona pine, snooze in grassy meadows 9,000 feet above sea level, gulp the water from mountain streams, rappel from granite peaks and swim in sparkling lakes as eagles and peregrine falcons glide overhead.

Government officials on both sides of the border are hopeful the peace park, which would include two protected areas in Mexico and three in the United States, will become a reality, mirroring Waterton-Glacier park on the U.S.-Canada border.

Rotary Club members, who sparked the northern frontier park, support the plan. Rotarians of Districts 4110 in Mexico and 5520 in the United States affirmed their commitment in 1997 and 1998, and Rotarians last year urged U.S. congressmen Henry Bonilla and Silvestre Reyes to introduce the necessary legislation. The current president of Rotary International is Frank Devlyn from Mexico City, who is pursuing the project.

LETTER OF INTENT SIGNED

The peace park idea has not yet reached President Clinton or Mexican President-elect Vicente Fox, but a letter of intent was signed in 1997 by Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt and his Mexican counterpart, Julia Carabias Lillo.

Big Bend National Park, a jewel of west Texas, "will not be complete until the entire park area in this region on both sides of the Rio Grande forms one great international park," President Franklin D. Roosevelt said when it was created by the U.S. Congress in 1944.

"It's obvious that everybody's frustrated that it's taking so long,"' Frank Deckert, superintendent of Big Bend National Park, told Reuters in an interview. The original plan was delayed by the Second World War and Mexican economic reverses, but it got new impetus in 1994 when Mexico set aside 514,701 acres in Coahuila (the Maderas del Carmen) and 684,706 acres in Chihuahua (the Canon de Santa Elena) as Protected Areas for Flora and Fauna.

Along with Big Bend, Texas' rugged Big Bend Ranch state park and the Black Gap Wildlife Management Area east of the national park, the total binational park would cover 2,385,955 acres, an area larger than Yellowstone National Park.

"I'm really excited at the prospects of expanding connections with the whole protected area," Deckert said.

Cross-border projects are already being worked out on infrastructure, electricity, environmental education and development of artisan crafts, he said, adding that Big Bend park rangers plan to coordinate science studies with Mexican schools in the border region.

BRIDGE ACROSS BORDERS

An exemption from border formalities will allow Big Bend visitors to cross over to Maderas del Carmen, and Deckert said he would like to see a bridge reopened for another Mexican crossing at La Linda, east of Big Bend.

But for now, the rowboat ``La Enchilada'' is the first step for Americans exploring the Mexican side of the potential peace park. Next comes a bone-rattling ride along desert roads and a two-hour climb to the forested peaks of the Sierra del Carmen.

Unlike park areas north of the Rio Grande, which are under U.S. federal or state ownership, Mexico has allowed private investors to participate in its protected areas.

Garza and Brittingham bought the 50,000 acres at the center of the Mexican protected area in Coahuila and established the nonprofit Museo Maderas del Carmen A.C. in 1997, opening the nature reserve to ecotourists this year.

"I was astounded that in a desert area you had this forest with waterfalls, canyons, a natural lake and so many pine trees," Brittingham told a recent group of visitors, explaining why he and Garza bought the property.

"It's rough, tough land, not very forgiving, and a very fragile ecosystem. It's nature at its very rawest."

The trip to Museo Maderas del Carmen is not for those who mind a bit of jostling over former logging trails or who are timid about glimpsing a bear near their tent. But it offers scenic panoramas and a dizzying array of flora and fauna. Vegetation ranges from Chihuahuan desert shrublands of yucca and sotol to grassy savannas and mountain forests of fir, oak and pine. Black bears, mountain lions, bobcats, white tail and mule deer populate the high country.

"INTERACTION WITH THE ENVIRONMENT"

Former owners exploited the property for logging, and mountains of logs and sawdust remain in some areas. Logging and mining now are prohibited in Mexico's protected lands and efforts are being made to educate villagers -- only about 1,000 live in the protected area and the lowland area nearby -- against overgrazing and poaching and to teach the potential economic worth of conservation.

"Interaction with the environment is our philosophy," Brittingham said. "The social and economic issues are the most important if conservation is to have a chance here. We hope to teach conservation by example." In the last century, the land was exploited for ranching, logging and mining. Today the aim is conservation. "There are such great assets that are underappreciated," he said.

Brittingham and Garza, childhood friends who both graduated from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, established the nature reserve as a nonprofit organization to conserve the property, channel funds for improvements and "educate people about these desert sky islands."

Big Bend National Park has more than 300,000 visitors a year and Brittingham said the nature reserve anticipates about 600 a year. They have facilities for 24 tourists at three sites: in tents at El Dos, stone cabins at El Club and Santa Salome, and a house overlooking the Chihuahuan Desert and Chisos Mountains.

Electricity is provided by photovoltaics powered by solar panels. A six-day hiking tour, with overnights in each of the sites, costs $680 per person, including food, lodging and transportation to and from Boquillas. Three-day weekend trips, with hiking or use of all-terrain-vehicles, begin at $345.

Brittingham said he hopes the Museo will be self-sustaining by next year. The Web site address is www.maderas.org.mx. The Rotary address for more information is www.iloveparks.com.

Copyright Rueters Limited 2000

U.S. and Mexico Park  Managers Meet 

June 15, 2000. Juarez, Chihuahua.    Park administrators from Big Bend National Park and Big Bend Ranch State Park in West Texas recently met with administrators from the Maderas de Carmen Reserve in Coahuila and the Santa Elena Reserve in Chihuahua to discuss mutual concerns and potential projects in the binational protected area.  The meeting was sponsored by the US Department of the Interior and Mexico's SEMARNAP to discuss cooperation in the region as mandated by a Letter of Intent signed by both governments in 1997.   Members of several non-government organizations were also invited to participate including Rotary District 5520/4110 International Peace Park Committee, World Wildlife Fund and ProNatura.

The group heard reports from each of the four protected areas and reviewed a wide variety of projects of mutual concern including resource management issues, fire protection and overall communication of park regulations and visitor information. Rotary volunteered to help set up a web page for the group and requested that park managers provide a list of potential projects that could be supported by Rotary to help people living in rural villages in the vicinity of the protected areas.

Representatives of the World Wildlife Fund stated that the Chihuahuan Desert was on the organization's Global 200 Index of ecological areas of major concern for long term conservation. They offered support for a strategic planning process to help guide protected area administrators in future cooperative management efforts.  

Rotarians from District 5520 (New Mexico, Texas) and District 4110 (Chihuahua, Coahuila, Zacatecas, Durango and Aquascalientes) have been working since 1997 to encourage the governments of the United States and Mexico to establish the long proposed International Peace Park in the Big Bend region on both sides of the border.  

South of the Border, at 8000 feet, Mexican Nature Reserve opens

By Jim Glendinning

Courtesy the AlpineAvalanche, April 6, 2000

"Look, down there, just above the trees! You see it?"

Luis was excited, and he wanted me to share his excitement. We were standing on a promontory high in the Sierra del Carmen range, 25 miles south of Boquillas. Luis had spotted a golden eagle, circling slowly just above the tree line. The trouble was that we were looking down onto the treetops, and the eagle wasn't too easy to spot against the foliage.

It was day two of a four-day introductory tour of the not-quite-opened Museo Maderas del Carmen , a 50,000-acre spread on the choicest part of the Del Carmen range, which continues south and east from the Dead Horse Mountains in the Big Bend National Park. Stretching from the desert floor, around 3,000 feet, to close to 9,000 feet at the highest point, the Nature Reserve promises to begin to fill in part of the ecological gap on the Mexican side of the Rio Grande and help lead to an International Peace Park, talked about for 50 years, but still not in existence.

Our group consisted of a writer, a photographer and two horse-trails enthusiasts anxious to scope the new territory for trail rides. Our host, Luis Brunicardi M, is the director of the new reserve. We were the second group from the U.S. side to come and find out the hopes and aspirations for the new park, as well as what it had to offer. The aim was to see if we could help in getting it going, through publicity or by sending visitors. I was impressed upon first contact with the energy and enthusiasm of the operation. The Museo, so named for tax reasons, has an 800 number which rings in an office in Monterrey, Mexico. They also have a web site, a publicity video, high-quality brochures, and an English-speaking staff.

Crossing over to Boquillas was simple as usual but, for once, I invested in a truck ($3 per person) to take us and our bags to the Buzzard's Roost Bed & Breakfast, where we were to meet up with the car from the Museo. Luis turned up promptly, and I got a look at the man on whom the hopes of the Nature Reserve's Mexican owners lie. Of Venezuelan nationality, his cosmopolitan background belies his obvious passion for the rugged outdoors. A college degree in business and marketing, plus his experience hosting eco-tourism in Venezuela, gives him a comprehensive edge in this new project.

Twelve miles and 40 minutes from Boquillas, we turn off onto the Nature Reserve property and drive for another hour and a half to reach the small, restored ranch-house called Santa Salome where Luis lives with his wife Teetee when they are on site. Cold hand-towels, scented with eucalyptus, help to wipe off the desert dust. We sample some food and wine as we listen to Luis tells us about his hopes for the reserve, a job he has enjoyed for only seven months. We are at the same altitude as Alpine, and some of us choose to sleep outside on the terrace in sleeping bags. For the next two nights we will be based at El Dos, a former logging camp, and from there will make excursions to points of interest up top.

Next morning, we switch from the Suburban to an open truck and immediately start a steep ascent on a good graded road. First stop is the remains of a fluorspar mining operation, where we pick the herb damiana which grows around the old buildings. As we climb higher, gazing west toward the mountains of Chihuahua, trees start to appear, thickening in size as they gain in height. We see oak, Douglas fir, ponderosa pine and Arizona cypress. Later, we spot some aspen. Logging was the principal commercial activity here for over 80 years until it ceased around 20 years ago. Unharvested dead trees lie in quantities around the sawmill sites, along with enormous heaps of sawdust. But now the birds and wildlife have the area to themselves.

Taking to the trail again, Luis guides us up a steep track, pointing out puma tracks. His enthusiasm is infectious; as he tries to wrap his arms around a Douglas fir at least 150 feet high, he tells us his plans for the Reserve. He wants to establish baseline data on the unusual history and pristine condition of the region. He wants mountain bikers not only to test themselves on the 80 miles of logging roads, but to rope themselves down into the canyons and negotiate the water channels. Meanwhile, less energetic nature lovers can enjoy a high-mountain environment of tall trees, running streams and moderate temperatures even in mid-summer.

There was ice under the outside faucet when we emerged from our tents the next morning and stood around the campfire getting warm and drinking coffee. After huevos rancheros we were offered the choice of hiking or using the four-wheel All Terrain Vehicles as transportation. Our destination was a lookout point towards the north of the Reserve, from which we could see The Sentinel, the highest peak, and in the background

the Chisos Mountains. Carpeted by fallen pine needles and dead leaves, the easy trail led us for a couple of hours past moss-covered boulders, around fallen trees to another promontory.

We devoured a sack lunch and afterwards stretched out on a rock, enjoying the Rockies-type view. Luis elaborated on his vision for the Reserve, from the scientific to the recreational. He outlined a plan to complete the tent-based campsite El Dos, with wood platforms and adjacent shower/toilets. In addition to the lodging facilities at the permanent campsite at El Dos, there are cabins at El Club on the eastern side of the Reserve, where the canyon activities take place. There are also plans for an organic nursery on the western slopes, as well as plans to improve the water-holding capacity of a lagoon in the northeast corner of the Reserve.

Before the fajitas supper, there was time to take another sunset hike to a ridge looking west. Forty miles away in Chihuahua state, an erratic thunderstorm stirred and fumed, and the setting sun struggled to cast its rays across the darkening desert floor. The layered effect of mountain ridges, a feature of the Big Bend region, was never so dramatic as it was now, backlit by the fading sun and spasmodic storm. As we climbed back down to the truck, Luis spotted a pygmy owl; later, we returned to camp to find the non-hikers listening to Mexican songs and drinking tequila.

The Museo Maderas del Carmen features several high-terrain habitats, including mountain meadows and forested slopes. Deep canyons cutting into the mountains offer endless exploring possibilities. Untouched for the past 20 years, the ravages of the lumber industry appear slight. Other than the occasional shack, there are few human habitations, while the road system has been upgraded for visitor use.

This new environmental preserve appears most promising, not only because of its beautiful features but because of the motivation and energy of its capable director. Horses aren't part of the formula at present, but this could change later. Prebooked packages (four days and three nights) include pickup and drop-off at Boquillas, transportation in and around the Reserve, improved tent camping, three meals daily, orientation on the Reserve's aims, and guiding services. Introductory rate: $285 for the whole trip. An exploratory trip is planned for June, 2000. For more information call 915-837 2052.

A slide show of the visit to Museo Maderas del Carmen, A.C. Nature Reserve will be held at the Sierra Club Meeting on Tuesday May 16, at 7.00 p.m., in Room 309 of Lawrence Hall at SRSU. The public is invited, and there is no fee.

Verdict: (Photographer) "Like nothing I've ever seen before" (Author) "It's breathtakingly beautiful up there" (Horse folk) "...the possibility of riding from he desert floor into aspen trees."

Carlsbad Current-Argus          
September 26, 1999

Peace on the Border
By Valerie Cranston, Carlsbad Current-Argus Staff Writer

CARLSBAD - Rotarians throughout New Mexico and West Texas are working hard to see history repeat itself through the establishment of a second international peace park, this time on the border of Mexico and the United States.

The world's first international peace park, Waterton Lakes National Park in Canada and Glacier National Park in the U.S., was established 67 years ago. It is the result of the hard work of Rotarians from Montana and Canada.

Members of Rotary Districts 5520 in the U.S. and 4110 in Mexico are working together through an educational initiative to raise public awareness to promote the natural world shared by both countries and their citizens. The mission - to see federal legislation passed by both governments within the next year to proclaim Big Bend National Park in West Texas and Maderas del Carmen and Canon de Santa Elena Reserves, across the Rio Grande in northern Mexico, as the world's second international peace park. Big Bend was officially established as a national park by Congress on June 12, 1944 and Maderas del Carmen and Canon de Santa Elena Reserves was officially protected by its government on Nov. 7, 1994.

The already protected areas on both sides of the border would total 2,385,955 acres. This includes 1,185,955 park and wildlife management acres in the U.S. and 1,200,000 wildlife preserve acres in northern Coahuila and Chihuahua, Mexico.  "Most people read about Big Bend and don't realize there's a missing piece - the land across the Rio Grande in Mexico," said Rick LoBello, member of Carlsbad Rotary, executive director of the Carlsbad Caverns Guadalupe Mountain Association and chairman of the bi-district peace park committee."You're already looking at an international park because both areas are protected," LoBello added. "It's just not an international park on paper."

LoBello and fellow Rotarians who have a long history of promoting parks and conservation around the world, are determined to get the public's attention and support through positive promotion of the U.S./Mexico border."Rotary is a powerful force and we hope to generate a strong public force. It's always the negative about the border that gets peoples' attention - it's air pollution or immigration problems," he said. "We want people to realize that we (U.S. and Mexico) share many things such as the environment and culture."

LoBello began his career with the National Park Service in his early 20s. His first job was at Big Bend National Park where he worked as a park ranger for 17 years. "I fell in love with the park," LoBello said. "The park is one of the reasons I became a naturalist. I would stand on the U.S. side of the canyon and look over into Mexico in wonder - at the missing piece. A park can't just be half a canyon."

It was in 1988, when LoBello became executive director of the Big Bend Natural History Association, that he heard Coahuila Gov. Eliseo Mendoza Berrueto was planning to somehow make the 1.2 million acres into a park. A short time later, LoBello joined Berrueto, his staff, private landowners, Mexican biologists and U.S. government officials on a trip into the high mountains of Maderas del Carmen.  That trip further cemented LoBello's own personal determination to see this proposed peace park become a reality.

Although Berrueto was unsuccessful in his attempt, Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari endorsed the federal protection of the reserve acres in Chihuahua and Coahuila in 1994.  "Just the whole international concept of a peace park inspired me to write articles that were published in magazines and park newspapers," said LoBello. "One reason I left Big Bend was to work on promoting the park. I was living 100 miles from any town. I needed to be part of a community to be able to promote the international peace park."   LoBello took a job opportunity at Carlsbad Cavners National Park and moved to Carlsbad in December 1992, he knew it was now possible for him to become a part of community, join the local Rotary Club and become active in program and speaker presentations.  It was then that LoBello began to draw up a resolution to be presented to the U.S. and Mexico governments. Rotary districts 5220 and 4110 accepted and approved that resolution in El Paso on May 3, 1997. The districts entered into an agreement to work together to see the international park project to its completion and designate the area a Rotary International Peace Park. A proposal that was initiated by Mexican officials earlier that year resulted in a letter of intent between the U.S. and Mexico to strengthen cooperation along the border. The proposal was signed during President Bill Clinton's visit to Mexico City on May 5, 1997.  "Clinton and Zedillo (president of Mexico) can make this happen before they both leave office," LoBello said. "We (Rotarians) hope to see this happen through legislation."  "There's a window of opportunity right now before the next administration takes office," he added. "There was another window of opportunity during President (Franklin D.) Roosevelt's administration, but World War II intervened."

It was on Feb. 16, 1935, that Roosevelt received a letter from Texas Sen. Morris Sheppard suggesting a park of international scope in the Big Bend area.  On Oct. 24, 1944, Roosevelt wrote a letter to His Excellency General Manual Avila Camacho, president of the United Mexican States. "I do not believe that this undertaking in the Big Bend (referring to Big Bend National Park) will be complete until the entire park area in this region on both sides of  the Rio Grande forms one great international park," Roosevelt wrote.   Camacho responded to Roosevelt's letter in November 1944 stating he was in agreement and was instructing the Department of Foreign Relations and Agriculture and Formento to actively pursue the studies needed that would lead to the creation of the Mexican section of the park.   However, efforts to accomplish the task and make the peace park a reality were unsuccessful by both governments in the years that followed.

In November 1998, members of both Rotary districts held a dedication ceremony with government officials from both countries who were invited to speak, LoBello said.   "We get together every year to network, encourage friendship and help each other work on projects in the U.S. and Mexico. Through the Rotary Foundation, our (District 5220 and 4110) money doubles by working together," LoBello explained.   "The ceremony was a ribbon-cutting and the shaking of hands across the border," LoBello said. "We understand that there will be problems to work out later, especially respecting the sovereignty of each country."

Seizing every opportunity to promote the peace park, LoBello arranged to have Dr. Michael Welsh, associate history professor with the University of Northern Colorado and contract historian for the National Park Service, speak at a Carlsbad Rotary luncheon in mid-August. During his speech, Welsh commended Rotary International for its part in the cause to make this park a reality. He praised them for assisting both nations in achieving a dream that began nearly 70 years ago and achieving a promise made by presidents of both countries to try to create a monument to the friendship that must exist between people who live side-by-side.   The U. S. and Mexico have been linked for a long time, but divided for a long time as well, Welsh said. "We share environment and culture as well as race and religion. We can emphasize the divisions or we can emphasize the linkages - but we have to know both."  As a professor, Welsh said, he tries to explain to his students how the past unfolded the way it did and how "moments move us in one direction or the other."  

"History is a series of moments, they're here and then they're gone," Welsh said. "The concept of the international park had its first moment in the 1930s, a time rich with opportunity and right with possibility. We need to think about how that opportunity escaped us in the 1940s and how the consequences were almost tragic."

For 40 years, little was done to revitalize the concept of the park, but the dream remained strong. Forty years of silence on both sides of the border, also filled with 40 years of differences, were replaced in the 1980s by an attempt to reestablish a dialog, Welsh said.  For the next 18 years, Welsh added, the efforts moved forward reaching a point this past April when Secretary of Interior Bruce Babbitt and his counterpart in Mexico joined together to look at the dimensions of a future international park.  "People were stunned at the beauty, stunned at the complexity and stunned at these efforts that they were not the first to try," Welsh said. "The concept of the international peace park idea stands at a fateful moment just as it has many times before. Since I'm a believer that moments are to be seized, taken advantage of and used rather than just contemplated or discarded, perhaps the moment is now to give it one more try."

LoBello, fellow Rotarians, officials and historians, believe the time is now during the 13 months left in the window of opportunity before year 2000 elections. They believe that both governments can manage the international area.  LoBello also believes that the peace park efforts will not only protect borderland flora and fauna, but will also serve a dual purpose by enhancing the livelihood of people living in the rural Mexican villages.  As a result, the standard of living in this region could possibly be upgraded with electricity, telephones, waste water systems and better schools, thus offering offer better opportunities for young people leaving the country through migration.  "We (Rotarians) have dedicated our efforts to see this to its completion and create the international peace park," LoBello added.