Existing Collaboration within the Chihuahuan Desert Transboundary Sample Clauses

Existing Collaboration within the Chihuahuan Desert Transboundary. Corridor Despite the inability to create an “International Park” in the Chihuahuan Desert Transboundary Corridor, Mexican and American histories in this “most singular country” (Xxxxx 1995) have been interconnected not only through conflict but also through cooperation. The historical ranching and mining industries in Big Bend relied heavily on the expertise of Mexican vaqueros and laborers, and likely represented the origins of transboundary collaboration in this region. More recently, cooperative working relationships between the United States and Mexico have been formalized. The countries signed the 1983 Cooperation for the Protection and Improvement of the Environment in the Border Area and an agreement of understanding was signed by the NPS and the Mexican states of Coahuila and Chihuahua in 1988 to promote cooperative research and preservation activities. These agreements have helped to establish a rapport between the protected area managers and set the stage for current collaborative efforts. While binational cooperation is encouraged through these agreements and other federal legislation such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and associated programs (see Chapter 3), legislation alone is inadequate for the development of collaborative programs which require interest and involvement at the local level. The managers of the protected areas in the CDTC, realizing the potential benefits of collaboration, already participate in cooperative relationships of varying levels of formality. Some of the past and current collaborative programs include: ➢ BBNP and BBRSP conducted environmental education programs in Mexico; ➢ CSE and BBNP collaborated on fish research in the Rio Grande; ➢ SEMARNAT and BBNP completed biological and water quality studies on the Rio Grande; ➢ BGWMA assisted CEMEX (in the MDC) with the re-establishment of desert bighorn sheep; ➢ MDC, CSE, and BBNP participated in cooperative fire management training; ➢ Firefighters from Chihuahua (Los Diablos) assisted BBNP with wildfires; ➢ CSE and MDC completed a cooperative animal husbandry/disease eradication program; ➢ BBNP prepared vegetative mapping for MDC using GIS technology; ➢ BBRSP has assisted the residents of Ojinaga, Mexico with various problems; and ➢ MDC assisted BBRSP with exhibits in the Xxxxxx Xxxxxxx Environmental Education Center. As evidenced by these examples, most of the current cooperative programs involve only a few of the protected areas (rather than all fiv...