On my radio show, Nov. 20, 6 pm. An early gift for Paulo Kirk Subscribers. Pesos and gold teeth welcomed for this Substack!

Erick Meza, borderlands coordinator for the Sierra Club Grand Canyon Chapter, discovered that one of the sections slated for the upcoming border wall is southern Arizona’s San Rafael Valley, a critical wildlife corridor for endangered species, including jaguars.

“It’s an ecological catastrophe,” he said of the proposed construction in the grassland valley. Meza spends much of his time traveling the borderlands documenting wildlife and the impacts of the border wall on an ecosystem under extreme stress from climate change and militarization.

Erick is Mexican, grew up in Guaymas, and learned that working in the tourist industry in Mexico was not a pathway to change.

You can turn blue in the face teaching turistas not to touch the coral heads with fins or knee pads, but alas, a turista is always the king of dollars, and some Mexican smart guy can’t tell a Yanqui what to do when he or she is paying big bucks for the cruise ship feces trip.

Erick ended up in Panama, ended up working on permaculture projects with indigenous groups in Panama, growing the chocolate pods.

Solar panels and sustainable living, and bio-intensive ag, all up his alley, since Erick as a Mexican national spent time in Olympia, WA, with former wife to learn everything about permaculture.

Erick worked with Julie Hobbs, master permaculture expert:

So, here we are, now, on the Arizona-Mexico border, and Erick wears many hats:

[Jaguar mural by Kati Astraeir, in Tucson, Arizona]

Erick was born in the Sonoran Desert in Mexico in the border state of Sonora in Mexico. He worked for 8 years as a certified tour guide in different locations across the country, focusing on education and preservation of the natural resources.

After working in the tourism industry decided to fully work on environmental education starting 2 different projects on experiential education, first in Bocas del Toro Panama and after in the Pacific coast of Southern Mexico.

When he moved into the United States, in particular, to the Sonoran Desert, Erick continued his work in education, teaching sustainable farming practices for the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona for 5 years.

Currently, Erick works as the Borderlands coordinator for the Sierra Club working directly with communities along the US/Mexico border to protect the environment and build connections between different conservation movements in both sides of the border.

Erick also is a Permaculture educator with the Sonoran Permaculture Guild where he teaches and helps certify people as Permaculture practitioners to live more sustainable lives in the desert.

[The Santa Rita male (a.k.a. El Jefe) in the Santa Rita Mountains, July 30, 2015.]

LISTEN to my interview above, or wait until November 20, 6 PM, KYAQ.ORG.

SICK Homo Consumopethicus: fences with metal, fences through Meta and AI and drones.

Amazing world Meza is fighting for: