"Interior Secretary David Bernhardt issued an unprecedented emergency withdrawal last night of public lands, shifting control of a 70-mile stretch to the U.S. military to speed construction of the wall along the southern border with Mexico.
Interior officials asserted the emergency action — which gives the Department of the Army administrative control of the area for three years — is necessary to 'preserve natural resource values' including wildlife and vegetation on 560 acres of federal lands across California, Arizona and New Mexico.
'At the Department of the Interior, we know the most effective way to protect the environment is to secure the border,' acting Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management Casey Hammond said in a press call announcing the withdrawals."
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