Photo courtesy of the National Park Service
The Diablos controlling a prescribed burn near Lake Meredith near
Amarillo as part of a program to improve the ecosystem and prevent
future wild fires.
it. One of his first assignments
with Big Bend was to drive out
to the field to pick up a Diablo
crew. As his truck drew closer,
he saw not the expected cluster
of grubby grunts, but a line of
Diablos shoulder to shoulder in
clean boots, green pants and
bright yellow shirts, each with
his pack on the ground beside
him, his pride self-evident.
After so many years, the
Diablos are seasoned pros, but
their training continues. Each
year they must pass the same
stringent tests that their
American counterparts do, but
there is one remarkable differ-
ence in the way they are treated
on the U.S. side. Their comings
and goings across the border for
work are strictly controlled, and
park personnel work closely
with the U.S. Border Patrol and
Immigration and Customs
Enforcement to ensure that all
paperwork is in the hands of
American supervisory personnel
at all times. As a result, the
Diablos, who are not allowed to
carry their own work permits,
cannot cross the border for, say, a
simple day of shopping with their
families in a U.S. border town.
In the meantime, plans are
to expand the Diablos and inte-
grate new recruits into the pro-
gram. By the end of 2011, park
personnel hope to have two 20-
man crews established with
new recruits hand-picked and
fully trained. Assistance agree-
ments have been put in place
recently between local counties
and the program so that the
Diablos can assist local fire-
fighting programs in Brewster,
Jeff Davis, Presidio and Pecos
Counties. The agreement is
expected to expand to Terrell
County soon.
Plans are also in the works
for re-opening the crossing at
the village of Boquillas.
Establishment of an interna-
tional cross-border park at Big
Bend, an idea first outlined by
the Franklin D. Roosevelt
administration and kicked
around for the last 75 years, is
also underway. U.S. Interior
Secretary Ken Salazar spoke of
it when he visited the Big Bend
last spring, and Park Supt. Bill
Wellman cited the Diablos pro-
gram as an example of cross-
border cooperation at its best.
What a beautiful dream. The
spectacular ranges and deserts
on the Mexico side match if
not trump those on this side.
Who has hiked the South Rim
Trail in the Chisos and not
longed to cross that river to
tramp the wilds of Mexico?
Recently, I watched a
Diablos crew cutting and haul-
ing cane nonstop along the
banks of the Rio Grande as part
of a river protection program.
They slogged with chainsaws
through mud and water, with
sketchy footing across layers of
cane. It was cold and wet work.
Later I visited with them as they
came back to headquarters and
broke down saws and equip-
ment to return them to prime
condition for the next project.
Their faces spread into some-
times shy, sometimes hardy grins
when we talked about their fam-
ilies, their villages and their
work. Some are jokesters. Some
are quiet and deeply religious.
All are proud of their begin-
nings and the fact that their
work has kept the villages across
from the park afloat economi-
cally so that their children can
attend school and build a future.
The Diablos demonstrate
what can be achieved when we
use our heads and work coop-
eratively for the common good.
Dreams can happen. And
dreams come large and small: a
safe and legal crossing at
Boquillas, an international park
that could set world standards.
Or a shopping trip to a U.S.
border town for a proud yet
humble firefighter and his wife
and kids.
Cenizo
Second Quarter 2011
9