--- title: Donald Trump Border Wall Proposal Would Harm the Environment description: Conservationists and other scientists say that a wall on the Mexican border would pose a threat to the local environment and ecosystems canonical: https://time.com/4650178/donald-trump-border-wall-environment/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-01-26T16:44:03.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T02:58:06.000Z article:section: Science og:title: The Problem With President Trump’s Wall That No One Is Talking About og:description: Conservationists and other scientists say that a wall on the Mexican border would pose a threat to the local environment and ecosystems og:url: https://time.com/4650178/donald-trump-border-wall-environment/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt154ab4f7694d3877/6988b766ab6d7707656aca11/donald-trump-border-wall-environment.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5472 og:image:height: 3078 og:image:alt: donald trump border wall environment og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Problem With President Trump’s Wall That No One Is Talking About twitter:description: Conservationists and other scientists say that a wall on the Mexican border would pose a threat to the local environment and ecosystems twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt154ab4f7694d3877/6988b766ab6d7707656aca11/donald-trump-border-wall-environment.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Problem With President Trump’s Wall That No One Is Talking About > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=54248230-6115-4a5d-84a9-fa050186bb66&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1)  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Jan 26, 2017 4:44 PM UTC  A U.S. Border Patrol vehicle stands guard along the U.S.-Mexico border fence on Sept. 26, 2016 in Jacamba Hot Springs, California. A U.S. Border Patrol vehicle stands guard along the U.S.-Mexico border fence on Sept. 26, 2016 in Jacamba Hot Springs, California. John Moore—Getty Images  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Jan 26, 2017 4:44 PM UTC [President Donald Trump](http://time.com/4649649/natural-gas-renewable-energy-donald-trump/)‘s plan to[ build a wall along the U.S. border](http://time.com/4650229/donald-trump-border-wall-cost-paul-ryan/) with Mexico has been greeted with cheers from his supporters but skepticism and outright resistance from those who fear it will do little to ensure national security. Many worry that the wall will harm relations with Mexico while costing taxpayers billions of dollars. But conservationists and other scientists are raising a separate issue with the wall: It poses a threat to the local environment and ecosystems, they say. A wall would inhibit movement for animals that need to travel for food and water. It would also divide the mating pool of several animals, potentially leading to a decline in genetic diversity. “The wall is a disruptive, artificial boundary in the natural world,” says Jamie Rappaport Clark, CEO of the [Defenders of Wildlife](http://www.defenders.org/) conservation group. “Wildlife must be able to move freely across connected landscapes to survive.” Much of the border is already fenced, which inhibits animal movement to a degree, but Trump’s promise of a concrete wall [as high as 55 feet](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/02/26/so-how-high-will-donald-trumps-wall-be-an-investigation/?utm%5Fterm=.b441afa56cc3) would essentially stop movement for every local species expect birds. The wall would affect a wide range of animals, but a few vulnerable species including jaguars, Mexican gray wolves and ocelots would be particularly hard hit, according to a Defenders of Wildlife [report](http://www.defenders.org/press-release/trumps-planned-permanent-border-wall-threatens-wildlife). Black bears, spotted owls and deer are also common in the region. Trump’s [executive order](https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/01/25/executive-order-border-security-and-immigration-enforcement-improvements) does not mention an environmental review process for the wall, so it’s unclear whether the administration would weigh these concerns, but Trump said this week that he [wanted to begin construction within “months.”](http://time.com/4648921/president-trump-hopes-construction-on-border-wall-can-start-in-months/) In other contexts, Trump has denounced many environmental reviews as unnecessary bureaucratic requirements. A 2006 federal law also gives the Secretary of Homeland Security the authority to waive environmental reviews for such border projects when there is a national security interest. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4650178/donald-trump-border-wall-environment/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4650178/donald-trump-border-wall-environment/"},"headline":"The Problem With President Trump’s Wall That No One Is Talking About","datePublished":"2017-01-26T16:44:03.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T02:58:06.000Z","description":"The wall could harm the local environment","url":"https://time.com/4650178/donald-trump-border-wall-environment/","keywords":["animals","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt154ab4f7694d3877/6988b766ab6d7707656aca11/donald-trump-border-wall-environment.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt154ab4f7694d3877/6988b766ab6d7707656aca11/donald-trump-border-wall-environment.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"donald trump border wall environment","caption":"donald trump border wall environment","creditText":"John Moore—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/animals/","name":"animals"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4650178/donald-trump-border-wall-environment/","name":"The Problem With President Trump’s Wall That No One Is Talking About"}}]}] ```