border patrol cops design an environmentally friendly horse poop. isnt govenrment great. if they take enough money from us they can claim to solve any problem Original Article Border Patrol's horses fed eco-friendly food Old oat, hay diet hurts desert in droppings Arthur H. Rotstein Associated Press Jun. 5, 2005 12:00 AM TUCSON - Horses have long been a vital part of the Border Patrol's enforcement efforts, especially in remote and rugged terrain in Arizona where motorized vehicles are impractical. But officials must take special precautions when using them because what goes into horses . . . well, also comes out. And the droppings from traditional hay can introduce alfalfa and the seeds of exotic weeds into environmentally sensitive desert terrain. As a precaution, the Border Patrol has started using special pellets to ensure they don't accidentally plant alien weeds. Much of the Arizona border includes sensitive land. Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument; the Cabeza Prieta, Buenos Aires, San Bernardino and Leslie Canyon National Wildlife refuges; the Coronado National Memorial and the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area all see border traffic and patrols. Horses patrolling those areas get fortified, commercially prepared feed in pellet form, sold in large bags like dog food. When they're not patrolling sensitive areas, the horses get regular oats and hay. "We consider refuges as more of a priority issue, but we do handle environmental issues," said David Bemiller, public lands liaison for the Border Patrol's Tucson and Yuma sectors. Horse feed is one of a number of environmental issues the agency faces as it seeks to stop illegal immigrants and drug traffickers from crossing through remote border lands. Illegal crossers frequently tear through untracked desert with vehicles and leave piles of empty water bottles and trash. Brush fires have been sparked by migrant cooking fires. Horses have been an integral part of the Border Patrol since its inception in 1924. Vehicles and aircraft lessened their role. But in recent years, there also has been renewed emphasis on horse patrols, particularly in the Tucson sector, which covers all but the easternmost portion of Arizona's border with Mexico. Nearly half the Border Patrol's 205 horses are in the Tucson sector. Since a mid-1990s crackdown in San Diego and El Paso, Texas, the sector has become the nation's busiest for illegal entries, with more than half of all such apprehensions coming along the Arizona border last year. The horses are used particularly in remote, rugged regions unsuitable for motorized vehicles and on environmentally sensitive locations such as the Organ Pipe monument and the Cabeza Prieta refuge, Bemiller said. "They are deployed throughout the sector for the purpose of patrolling sensitive areas, environmental or cultural areas where it's a benefit not only to our operations but to the resources," he said. "Patrolling on horse is going to leave less of an impact, less of a footprint." The only other spot on the border where horses receive specialized feed is on federal lands near Jacumba, Calif., said spokesman Mario Villarreal in Washington, D.C. Horses there get only feed from the local area. The decision to give patrol horses special feed in Arizona was a pre-emptive one, Border Patrol spokesman Luis Garza said. Officials wanted to be sure an environmental problem wouldn't develop.