>>> EARTH WEEK IS UNDER WAY AS ACTIVISTS RAMP UP AWARENESS FOR
VARIOUS ENVIRONMENTAL CAUSES LEADING UP TO EARTH DAY ON
SATURDAY. ONE OF THESE CAUSES IS THE
DANGEROUS IMPACT CONSTRUCTION OF THE PROPOSED BORDER WALL WILL
HAVE ON WILDLIFE AND HABITAT. JOINING ME NOW IS JEFF CORWIN,
WILDLIFE BIOLOGIST AND HOST OF "OCEAN MYSTERIES."
ALWAYS GOOD TO HAVE YOU, JEFF. I WANT YOU TO GET RIGHT INTO IT
AND EXPLAIN WHAT SCIENTISTS ARE PREDICTING IF THIS BORDER WALL
GETS BUILT. >> WELL, ALEX, IF THIS BORDER
WALL ACTUALLY HAPPENS, IT WILL BE AN ENVIRONMENTAL CATASTROPHE.
ESSENTIALLY WHAT IT'S DOING, ALEX, IS CUTTING THROUGH
NATURE'S BRIDGE, WHICH CONNECTS CENTRAL AMERICA TO NORTH AMERICA
AND SOUTH AMERICA. WILDLIFE HAVE BEEN USING THIS
NATURAL CORRIDOR FOR MILLIONS OF YEARS, AND ESSENTIALLY WHAT THIS
ADMINISTRATION WANTS TO DO IS PUT A 1,200-MILE-LONG BARRIER
RIGHT THROUGH IT. THINK OF ALL THE DIFFERENT
SPECIES AND CREATURES THAT MIGRATE FOR RESOURCES, FOR
REPRODUCTION, FOR SEASONALITY. MANY OF THE ANIMALS, ALEX, THAT
LIVE IN NORTH AMERICA EVOLVED IN SOUTH AMERICA AND MIGRATED ALONG
THIS NATURAL CAUSEWAY, SO IT WOULD BE ABSOLUTELY DEVASTATING.
THERE ARE OVER 100 BIRD SPECIES THAT MIGRATE, THAT WILL BE
CRITICALLY IMPACTED BY THIS, AND THERE ARE NEARLY 90 ENDANGERED
AND THREATENED SPECIES, SOME OF WHICH COULD VERY WELL BE PUSHED
TO EXTINCTION BECAUSE OF THIS PROPOSED WALL.
>> YEAH, I KNOW ONE OF THE MOST CONCERNING ONES IS THE MEXICAN
GRAY WOLF, WHICH YOU ALSO TALKED ABOUT THE JAGUARS, MOUNTAIN
LIONS, WHITE-TAILED DEER, AMONG SO MANY OTHERS.
WHAT ARE YOU HEARING, JEFF, FROM YOUR FRIENDS IN THE CONSERVATION
COMMUNITY, ESPECIALLY THOSE IN GOVERNMENT?
ANY WORD ON WHERE THIS IS GOING AND THE CONCERNS THEY HAVE WITH
THIS ADMINISTRATION? >> WELL, A LOT OF FOLKS, ALEX,
ARE TERRIFIED, BECAUSE THE MODELS AND THE TOOLS THAT WE USE
TO MANAGE WILDLIFE IN THE UNITED STATES, TO MANAGE HABITAT, MATCH
RAL RESOURCES IN A PRAGMATIC, COMMON SENSE WAY, IS BASED ON
SCIENCE, AND IT DOESN'T SEEM LIKE THIS ADMINISTRATION CARES
ABOUT SCIENCE. FOR EXAMPLE, THEIR DARK AGE
DENIAL OF CLIMATE CHANGE. WHEN YOU TAKE THEIR VIEWPOINT ON
CLIMATE CHANGE, YOU MIX IN THE BORDER WALL, AND YOU TAKE HOW
THEY ARE BASICALLY CASTRATING AND DECAPITATING THE
GOVERNMENTAL INSTITUTIONS LIKE THE EPA, THE DEPARTMENT OF THE
INTERIOR, THE NATIONAL OCEANIC ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION, THE
U.S. NATIONAL WILDLIFE SERVICE, WHICH THEY ARE DECAPITATING AND
CASTRATING, IT'S A BRILLIANT STRATEGY TO WAGE A WAR ON
WILDLIFE, BUT THIS IS THE STRATEGY THAT THIS
ADMINISTRATION HAS TAKEN. THEY CASTRATE BECAUSE THEY
REMOVE THE FUEL AND THE RESOURCES TO DO THE JOB, AND
THEY DECAPITATE BY DEREGULATING THE MISSIONS OF THESE
ORGANIZATIONS. AND IT'S THE WILDLIFE AND
ULTIMATELY OUR CHILDREN THAT WILL PAY THE PRICE.
ALEX, THE WAY I LOOK AT IT, THE RESOURCES THAT WE USE TODAY, WE
DON'T INHERIT FROM OUR ANCESTORS.
WE BORROW FROM OUR CHILDREN. AND WHEN IT COMES TO NATURE AND
WILDLIFE, THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION IS PREPARING TO
ROB THE BANK. >> WOW.
I KNOW, JEFF, THAT YOU TOOK ON THE GEORGE W. BUSH
ADMINISTRATION FOR THE EFFORTS TO ROLL BACK THE ENDANGERED
SPECIES ACT, ALSO THEIR CLIMATE CHANGE POLICY.
GIVE ME A GRADE ON WHAT YOU'RE SEEING WITH THE TRUMP
ADMINISTRATION SO FAR. >> WELL, RIGHT NOW, YOU KNOW,
WHEN I'M LOOKING AT THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION, ALEX, YOU SEE
SCOTT PRUITT, THE HEAD OF THE EPA, A CLIMATE CHANGE DENIER AND
PERSON WHO DOES NOT BELIEVE IN CONSERVATION BASED ON WHAT I'VE
SEEN, THAT'S LIKE HAVING THE FOX IN THE HEN HOUSE.
YOU LOOK AT ALL OF THESE THINGS UNDER WAY, AND BASICALLY I GIVE
THIS ADMINISTRATION AN "F," AND THAT'S AN "F" FOR FRIGHTENING.
>> JEFF, I KNOW YOU'VE REACHED OUT MANY TIMES TO THE TRUMP
ADMINISTRATION TRYING TO GET WORD AND SPEAK WITH THEM.
I HOPE THAT THEY HEAR YOU AND GIVE YOU A HEARING, IF YOU WILL.
I'LL L