“The reality is that if you place land and endangered species as a higher priority [than] border security, you get neither of those,” Rep. Bishop said.

By Edwin Mora at CNSNews.com

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar told CNSNews.com that national security and ecological values can coexist at the U.S.-Mexico border.

The comments came amid Republican criticism that the Interior Department is using conservation as a pretext to interfere with U.S. Border Patrol operations on federal lands, particularly when it comes to stopping illegal immigrants and drug smugglers.

In an exclusive interview at an Earth Day event on the National Mall in Washington, CNSNews.com asked Salazar if he thought the Interior Department should relax policies that interfere with Border Patrol efforts on federally protected lands (see transcript below).

“It has certainly been the case where we’ve worked well with both Mexico as well as with Canada in terms of transnational cross-border issues that have to do wildlife and national parks issues, and we hope to continue that agenda,” Salazar responded.

“You know, we have a national security imperative [at] our borders, but we believe that the national security can be met at the same time that we recognize the important ecological values that we have across the border,” he added.

Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Utah), the ranking member of the House subcommittee on public lands, told CNSNews.com that the Interior Department has its priorities wrong.

FULL STORY

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