Every year birdwatchers from around the country and the world make their way to the Rio Grande Valley - spending an estimated $463 million annually during their stay here - primarily to see 30 species of birds that cannot be seen anywhere else in the United States.
One of the birding hotspots, nestled in Starr County, within the tiny river town of Salineño (pop. 129), is a modest 2.5 acre tract of land owned by the Valley Land Fund and staffed by U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service volunteers. Over the years this “postage stamp” of land has become one of the premiere bird watching spots in the entire nation. Salineño Preserve is one of very few places in the United States where you can see the Audubon’s oriole, Zone-tailed hawk, and Red-billed pigeon, and is a spot once frequented by the Brown jay: The one, single place in the US that this species of bird has ever been documented.
The property, originally owned by the DeWind family, was donated to the Valley Land Fund, under the stipulation that the property remain a conservation area open to the public. Now each fall through spring season the site attracts thousands of birders. A thick visitors log documents guests from all 50 states, as well as from 40 foreign countries.
Tiffany KerstenBut the property lies along the Rio Grande right in the path of the planned border wall, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has been pressuring Valley Land Fund to voluntarily sell the property so that it can be bulldozed for the wall and a 150-foot enforcement zone.
When the community got the word that Valley Land Fund’s Board was considering a deal with USACE in October, letters flowed in from all around the country begging the organization to refuse to sell and to wait for a possible shift in administration, so that the Preserve may be saved. However, though the Valley Land Fund has said they have made a decision, they are refusing to be transparent about whether they are in the process of selling the property. Executive Director Debralee Rodriguez has stated that they “are in the middle of negotiations” and that she is unsure of what the future looks like for the site.
Three volunteers with the US Fish & Wildlife Service have been living onsite since early October, preparing the site for the anticipated annual November 1st opening. The volunteers state that they have not received any communication from Valley Land Fund regarding the status of the site, and have not been notified whether they will remain open for the entire November - March season.
The Valley Land Fund is the only land trust organization south of San Antonio. While the organization is a private non-profit, they operate in a public capacity, in the operation of the Salineño Preserve as well as the operation of The Valley Land Fund lots on South Padre Island.
In the meantime a new president-elect has been announced and Joe Biden has promised to stop border walls, saying “there will not be another foot of wall constructed on my administration.” This means that every delay brings us closer to saving the Preserve. What a shame it would be for the Valley Land Fund, which claims to stand for conservation, to facilitate its destruction by selling off the land even though there is a possibility that no border wall will be built.
Although the Salineño Preserve is officially owned by the Valley Land Fund, it is nevertheless a public trust: a natural treasure for Rio Grande Valley residents and a destination loved and valued and cherished by birders across the country. To put the Preserve under threat and to shirk the responsibility of transparency to the public, as visitors from around the country are flying and driving here to visit Salineno at this very moment during the height of migration,is a violation of that trust. To not even inform the dedicated individuals volunteering their time, whether they will have a place to live and work in a month or two, is inconsiderate. To think that The Valley Land Fund would even consider selling this precious riverside jewel without a fight is incongruous to the reason their organization exists in the first place.
The Valley Land Fund needs to hold their ground and not give in without a fight - and they need to be transparent with all those so invested in its future. As a site open to the public - we all have a stake in the outcome here. The DeWind family, the Preserve’s volunteers and the public all deserve better.
Editor's Note: The above guest column was penned by Tiffany Kersten, a board member of Friends of the Wildlife Corridor. The column appears in The Grande Guardian with the permission of the author. Kersten can be reached via this email: tiffanykersten@gmail.com.
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