Working south of Yuma.... in the August heat

They've decided to build a fence... behind the fence that's already there, along the U.S. - Mexico border south of Yuma, Arizona. This section of border is unique in that it runs north-south, so you look across into Mexico to the west!

They gathered up our team of biologists, archeologists, and Indian tribal representatives, to make this initial assessment of the area. The route followed the Colorado River, a major river in the west... but it's dry here, near the mouth. We've managed to divert pretty much all of the water to the cities and farms upstream before it gets to Mexico, which is amazing because it's a major river carrying water from more than a thousand miles upstream.

This is some of the less pleasant desert in the west. As the river has gone away, it's left behind a wide, salty swath where nothing much grows but one miserable, invasive plant that came across from the middle east - Salt Cedar or Tamarisk. There were a few interesting spots though, where dunes stick up through the endless monoculture of Tamarisk. It's too hot in August to see much wildlife, but as you'll see, much of what lives there can be inventoried from the tracks from the night before.