In another thread, **Colophon **pointed out this really cool Google map of the US/Canada border:
It looks like a 20 foot or so swathe is kept clear of the evergreens and other large plants which grow on either side. So…who weeds the border? And how? Is it mowed? Salted? (I don’t think so, it looks like there’s grass growing.) Is this something the US pays for or Canada? Jobs for Americans or Canadians?
Keeping the boundary marked is the job of the International Boundary Commission. From their website:
Looks like it’s a joint Canada-US commission, and the two nations work together.
I’ve got no notion who weeds it. But I bet there are eyes on it at all times. Satelite eyes.
Illegal aliens from Mexico. We make the illegal Canadian immigrants weed the Mexican border. We’re fair like that.
This is definitely one of those things that makes you stop and think, "How the &^$#* did they do that?
They even do it on the Alaskan border.
If you follow that link and zoom in on the river island that the border crosses, I’ll swear they’ve cleared a swathe on that too, although it doesn’t look quite so well maintained.
I could waste hours following that little line along. It gets lost in the glaciers in places. I can just imagine them sending the work-experience guys up to do those segments. “No, you don’t have to write your name in the snow, just a straight line. Now drink some more of that Bud…” 
Fantastic link, Colophon. We’ve flown over where the Yukon comes in from Canada and crosses. It’s incredibly impressive from the air, although it’s probably not quite as “weeded” as you might imagine. There was small vegetation, maybe up to 2 or 3 feet tall growing but, of course, in comparrison there’s no mistaking where the boundary begins.
We once spotted and called in a lightning strike fire right near there on the way back to Eagle from the Yukon-Charlie wilderness. Within an hour we witnessed fire jumpers out of Tok parachuting in. We assumed, correctly or not, that the incredibly rapid response was because of the border proximity, that they didn’t want a US fire crossing into Canada.
I see you’ve edited your last post. I just checked an atlas and it appears that the river in the link I posted is the Stikine.
I have this mental image of groundskeeper Willie weedeating the entire border by himself, catching a plane back to Washington when he finishes Maine and starting over.
Wow - good call.
Wow, thanks! I had no idea.
Hmm…I wonder why the weeders at the Mexican borders can’t do double duty as border patrol. :dubious:
It says it will appear to look like a 20 ft swath…From the google images, and a little ides of scale, I’d say that swath is more along the lines of 100 ft across…I could be wrong.
I’ll guess that it is done at a county by county basis. Tractors with bushwhackers on them. Probably subsidized by the Feds.
Not sure how this duty is shared with Canada or Mexico, or if it is at all.
Think of all the interchanges that are regularly mowed, and roadside ditches. This is probably small potatoes compared to that.
In my small county in the Rocky Mountains, we are developing a GIS database tied to a tabular database to help maintain hiking and biking trails. A lot of this work is done by volunteers, a lot of it is done by Forest service or our Open Space and trails department. Hundreds of miles of trails.
Some of this border may also be on private land, and the maintenance may be done by those that own it. They may get some type of tax deduction or something for maintaining it.
Using the Google image in the OP, I moved the swath down to the 100’ scale marker at the bottom left corner of the picture. I’d say it’s pretty close to 20’.
I think this quote from the site that Spoons linked to answers who does it, and who pays for it:
"Reclearing of the 2,172 kilometres(1,349 miles) of boundary vista through forest and brush requires a major portion of the Commission’s efforts. Early clearing operations were carried out using manual tools such as axes, machetes and hand saws.
Over the last quarter century power-saws have greatly facilitated clearing operations.In addition a program of herbicide spraying treatment to control growth was carried out between 1952 and 1978, using chemicals approved by the enviromental regulatory agencies of both countries. The selective use of spraying allows existing grasses and ferns to dominate and prevent the growth of tree seedlings. No herbicides were sprayed near water or food crops.
In more recent years the spraying of chemical herbicides has been replaced by a vista grooming technique that involves stripping the vista by bulldozer and seeding the area with desirable grasses. An experimental project of this kind was carried out in 1981-1982 on the Maine-New Brunswick boundary, where the vista is now landscaped in a pleasing manner.
So far this program was succesfully carried out on the 125 kilometres (78 miles) of the North Line boundary, the 134 kilometres (84 miles) of the Southwest and South Line boundaries and a 66 kilometres (41 miles) portion of the Manitoba-Minnesota section of the 49th Parallel boundary. Maintenance on the vista following a grooming operation should be limited mainly to side clearing for a number of years.
Conventional methods of maintenance will continue to be employed on those remote and difficult sections of the boundary that do not lend themselves to grooming treatment. The present day emphasis on contracting out will result in a greater portion of the maintenance being completed under these arrangements. "
Reading further on the site suggests that it is paid for by the Commission who has two Commissioners, one appointed in Canada by Order in Council (i.e. Cabinet) and one in the US appointed by the President.
Interesting. I hadn’t thought about herbicide spraying. I think that many moon ago that this kind of clearing might be important for surveying. I’ve been the mule on traditional surveys in forested mountain areas. It ain’t fun. Or very accurate after a few miles.
Today, with GPS and sats, a clear line of site is not that important.
Seems kind of silly, other than it is a pure demarcation. “I didn’t know I was in Canada/USA.” I wonder if there are signs? How far they are placed apart, and what they say?
I wonder if you could hike it? If they are using dozers to help clear it, a well built 4x4 may even be able to drive most of it.
Seems silly to me. But then, a lot of things do now.
The Baja 1000 probably sounded silly to all but 4 or 5 people awhile back, yet look at it now. Were a group to travel the Al/Can border length and talk about it, who knows, popularity might skyrocket. One benefit I guess is that you wouldn’t have to sink much investment into your vehicle’s steering.
I bet it gets a lot harder when you go over the cliff.
Doesn’t look any different from a seismic line to me. Get out into the bush in northern Alberta and they’re all over the place.
I came close to doing the pre-run for the Baja 1000 in a '76 Chevy short bed pick up. But decided that I needed the truck too much to do it. Didn’t have the money or time. And it was a truck I could not destroy. I needed it. Still have it… It’s my plow truck now. That was back in '82 I think.
Still have the truck which is good, but I did miss the opportunity.