flash-act-letter-final-51513bbe1d30fc8a.pdf

The document is a formal letter from a coalition of organizations to the U.S. House Subcommittee on Federal Lands opposing H.R. 1820 (the FLASH Act). The authors argue that the bill's mandates for road construction and border barriers would cause severe environmental harm, including habitat destruction and increased fire risk, while claiming that several sections are unnecessary because existing laws and agreements already grant the requested authorities to border security agencies.

• Section 101 of the FLASH Act mandates at least 584 miles of road along the southern border within ten miles of the border and directs the Departments of Agriculture and Interior to cooperate with the Department of Homeland Security for fencing and surveillance. The authors oppose this, stating that border walls are "ineffective, wasteful and harmful" and that road construction causes "severe environmental consequences and increases the occurrence of human-caused fires."
• The authors argue that Section 102, which allows U.S. Customs and Border Protection personnel to access wilderness via motorized vehicles and aircraft and authorizes physical barriers in wilderness, is "unnecessary" because the Border Patrol already possesses such access and has already created roads within wilderness areas.
• Section 103 would allow border states to place temporary, movable structures on federal public lands for one year (with 90-day extensions) without special use permits. The authors cite a 2022 Arizona project involving over 2,000 shipping containers as a precedent for the harm this could cause, noting that 922 double-stacked containers on Coronado National Forest violated the Clean Water Act in "at least 24 locations," destroyed grassland habitat, and caused a "24% decrease in wildlife movement through the area."
• The authors contend that Section 104, which prohibits federal agencies from restricting search and rescue or law enforcement activities on public lands within 100 miles of the southern border, is redundant as land managers generally do not restrict these activities. They further note that the waiver of laws regarding archaeological sites, wildlife, and water has hindered communication with on-the-ground managers.
• The authors state that Section 105, which directs the Secretaries of Agriculture and Interior to fulfill commitments in a 2006 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Department of Homeland Security, is duplicative because numerous similar agreements have already been signed between 2008 and 2015.

APA

Earthjustice (2025). flash-act-letter-final-51513bbe1d30fc8a.pdf. https://earthjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/flash-act-letter-final.pdf

Chicago

Earthjustice. flash-act-letter-final-51513bbe1d30fc8a.pdf. 2025. https://earthjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/flash-act-letter-final.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Earthjustice |title=flash-act-letter-final-51513bbe1d30fc8a.pdf |date=7 March 2025 |url=https://earthjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/flash-act-letter-final.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{earthjustice2025flashactletterfinal51513bbe1d30fc8apdf, author = {{Earthjustice}}, title = {{flash-act-letter-final-51513bbe1d30fc8a.pdf}}, publisher = {Earthjustice}, year = {2025}, month = mar, url = {https://earthjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/flash-act-letter-final.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }