The Department of Interior is transferring public land along the Arizona-Mexico border to the military. It’s the latest step in an effort that began in April — when the Trump administration began establishing so-called National Defense Areas along the border where people could be detained on military trespassing charges.
The first zone was set up along a 170-mile stretch of border in New Mexico. Last month, plans were announced for additional sites in Texas and along the Arizona-Sonora border near Yuma.
This week, the Department of Interior said it had officially transferred about 285 acres of the Roosevelt Reservation in Yuma County.
The Roosevelt Reservation is a 60-foot strip right along the border that runs the length of the international boundary in Arizona, New Mexico and California. Myles Traphagen, borderlands program coordinator with the Wildlands Network, says he believes more public land in Arizona will also be included.
“I’d be very surprised if it stayed within the Roosevelt Reservation because the federal government already had access to that and a lot of this land in Western Arizona already interfaces with DoD controlled lands,” he said.
A map from the Department of Interior shows the initial land transfer encompasses some 39 miles of land along the border inside the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge. Traphagen says the public already need a permit to go there because it’s right next to the Barry M. Goldwater Air Force Range.
A Department of Interior spokesperson says additional acreage for the 140-mile long Yuma-area zone will be announced later.
