Mexican side of the river now off limits.

[RichardM]

Falcon's was a great place.  The tacos were great and few things tasted as good as an ice cold Coke after riding the donkey from the river.  My regret is that I didn't spend the night over there or do any exploring.

I deeply regret not ever making it over there. My Dad and I thought about it while camping at RGV one night, but decided to eat our canned beef stew heated over the camp stove instead. Morons.

[iCe]

I was getting my hopes up for an International Park and getting to visit Boquillas... what a bunch of crap

[Al]

This is a perfect example of why we don't want the government to intrude into our lives.  Bureaucrats can have false motivations, such as justifying their existence and trying to make their jobs work with the least amount of work without regard to how their actions affect the impacted citizens. 

Take the gulf drilling moratorium as another example.  The government didn't even bother to evaluate the real world negative consequences.  I guess it just appeared convenient and let them put check mark in the box on their asinine form.  It amazes me that this can be done without having to go through a public participation process.

Al

[Al]

Sad very sad, man I miss Falcon's.

Jose Falcon would often save interesting "artifacts" for me; When we found the antique bear trap high in the Maderas Del Carmen I brought it back with me; Jose claimed to know its owner, and that he was living. I turned it over to Sr. Falcon for a return to owner. (Later learned that the "antique" was probably worth $8,000.00 to $10,000.00; no importante', Jose did me many favors over the years, including the loan of his truck, outfitting me with horses, shuttling me to the Maderas, providing other valuable info. I truly miss Boquillas, Jose Falcon, et. al.
QS

Shelley

I remember Rawles telling us about a ranger who guided horse camping trips in the early to mid 90's.  QS, did you hear about this?

Al

[TexasAggieHiker]

Take the gulf drilling moratorium as another example.  The government didn't even bother to evaluate the real world negative consequences.

What's even scarier is that they KNEW what was going to happening with the ban and did it anyways.......

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/08/21/oil-drilling-ban-costs-jobs-administration/

[homerboy2u]

In regards to your comment QS....there might be a way back to  El Carmen (formerly Maderas del Carmen),being a unique ecosystem it will be a very rare opportunity to go and visit there... .... before they decide to open up the area to a Park status.

  The general manager of the project is certainly on top of things,he knows by heart what works and what does not (previous experience from NPS & BLM) , they will try to do things right.

[Al]

Take the gulf drilling moratorium as another example.  The government didn't even bother to evaluate the real world negative consequences.

What's even scarier is that they KNEW what was going to happening with the ban and did it anyways.......

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/08/21/oil-drilling-ban-costs-jobs-administration/

But apparently AFTER the moratorium was imposed according to that article and Carol Browning's statements.

Al

[MyLifeOutdoors]

I hesitated to say this right before my trip down Santa Elena but now that I didn't go I can say it.

Getting ready for my trip I had both a park ranger and one of the river outfitters tell me that it would be okay to pass into Mexico. They both said something along the lines of "in the unlikely event that a border patrol agent happens to be in the area and happens to see you get out on the Mexico side they will just ask to look through your stuff."

Also found this quote on the Desert Sports Blog

The following are direct quotes from the letter we received from Big Bend National Park:

?First, a U.S. Passport is not required to use the river in Big Bend National Park or the Rio Grande Wild and Scenic River. Additionally, a U.S. Customs declaration form is no longer required for river trips.

Second, visitors and river outfitters may not use the Mexican bank of the river, as international border crossing is only legal at a Port of Entry. Visitors may not hike into Mexico or the side canyons of Mexico. Visitors additionally may not plan a trip to camp in Mexico or on the Mexican shore. The exception is in cases of emergency: visitors may land on the Mexican side of the river to scout rapids, to bail out a boat, to repack gear, and for other safety reasons.?

[jeffblaylock]

The exception is in cases of emergency: visitors may land on the Mexican side of the river to scout rapids, to bail out a boat, to repack gear, and for other safety reasons

Repacking the gear usually requires one full night and space to spread it all out.

[presidio]

they cant even stop the folks at Boquillas and RGV from coming over and putting down their walking sticks and art work to sell.....how are they going to enforce this??

Two points....

a) The Border Patrol and Customs have no jurisdiction beyond the international boundary (center of the river), so they can say they prohibit activities all they want; they cannot enforce anything. The only logical means of dealing with this is to prohibit anyone from reentering the US at any place other than a port of entry. As I pointed out quite some time ago, the ability of boaters/floaters to use the river flies in the face of all the other restrictions on crossing the river to go to Boquillas or Santa Elena. Any attempt to actually enforce a boating ban will end commercial rafting....and that just ain't gonna happen because it's a political hot potato and such restriction would have a negative impact on the NPS collection of permit fees. Money talks, whether the conversation is logical or not. 'National security' isn't the issue here despite any rhetoric to the contrary.

This sort of pronouncement is in the same category as the NPS wanting you to believe you have to comply with their poop and fire rules on the Mexican side of the river: you don't, they have NO JURISDICTION.

b) Preventing the Mexican sellers of doodads isn't a matter that they (BP, ICE, NPS) cannot prevent; they choose to not prevent it. Think about it, it's a no-brainer. The illegal entrants are known to operate at only a few places where tourists congregate. Other than perhaps being a tad labor intensive, these folks could be easily be stopped from their entry and activities. While the return on labor might be low, it is an illegal activity and there just aren't that many participants that it couldn't be stopped. The BP and ICE have issues of illegal entry, the NPS has an issue of illegal commercial activity. They know it is occurring, they know when and where it is occurring, they know who is involved...and they don't even confiscate the sales items and money jar, much less do anything that would result in actually arresting anyone. They do nothing. BUT, just you try to cross the river and come back in a non-boating mode. Your transgression will not go unaddresed.

[presidio]

I deeply regret not ever making it over there. My Dad and I thought about it while camping at RGV one night, but decided to eat our canned beef stew heated over the camp stove instead. Morons.

Sincere condolences. Those who've never gone really do not know what has been lost. Like zero tolerance in schools, much of border security is assinely idiotic.

[presidio]

This is a perfect example of why we don't want the government to intrude into our lives.  Bureaucrats can have false motivations, such as justifying their existence and trying to make their jobs work with the least amount of work without regard to how their actions affect the impacted citizens. 

Take the gulf drilling moratorium as another example.  The government didn't even bother to evaluate the real world negative consequences.  I guess it just appeared convenient and let them put check mark in the box on their asinine form.  It amazes me that this can be done without having to go through a public participation process.

Al

Remember, in government, when there is a perceived threat or crisis, SOMETHING must be done regardless of how knee-jerk or efficacious. Doing nothing is unacceptable, even though that may be the course of action most wisely chosen if anyone with half a brain was in charge.

[Packrat]

True.  But the danger posed by irresponsible drilling is incalculable.  The first priority was to review drilling standards and oversight.  Economic harm from a moritorium was insignificant in comparison to what could have happened.  Murphy' s law;  errors and accidents will happen;  sooner or later it will happen again, and worse.  Not that we know how bad it was, yet.

Back to the thread.  Time was, I thought nothing about crossing over into Ojinaga, eating a big meal and spending the night as part of the Big Bend experience.  While Ojinaga's not Juarez, I no longer feel comfortable there.

I don't like the prohibition about crossing the river any more than I like the way I am barred from going onto the concourse at airports to greet or say goodbye to travelers or to watch the planes land and take off.   Another of life's interesting events gone.

[Undertaker]

Closing the border is a non issue, drilling off shore is a non issue, switching to electric cars for me is an issue as this turns the 10 hour trip to BB into a 10 day trip one way, sad the border will never be open we have lost good friends and friends tend to watch out for you better than non friends.