To view this site you need Adobe Flash Player and your browser must allow javaScripts. Go here to get the latest Flash Player. SBI COMES NORTH “I think it’s a very complex multi-jurisdictional issue that can only be advanced and moved forward through collaborative engagement with all of the key stakeholders and partners,” McGowan declared. “It’s not something you’re going to close completely. The border is very expansive, and it’s porous in nature. There are 14 ports along the border with varied levels of operations. It’s a complex situation, and it’s going to take not only strategic but tactical initiatives to protect that border as best we can with all of the partners.” making good progress,” Sands stated. About $460 billion in trade occurs between the United States and Canada annually, according to US federal estimates, making Canada the largest US trading partner. Increased security along the US northern border since Sept. 11, 2001, occasionally has raised concerns that trade between the nations will slow because of the security measures. “The Big Three automakers get a lot of parts from Canada, as do a number of other businesses. When we do things to secure the border, it often has an economic impact, especially back on 9/11. When they closed the border and the flow of materials stopped going back and forth, it created a significant issue. It is a complex problem,” Sands remarked. State government concerns Some counties in Montana have vast geographic areas with limited law enforcement personnel to cover them, McGowan noted. He applauded federal efforts like Operation Stonegarden, which awards grant funds to border states for increasing cooperation between state and federal law enforcement agencies in combating border crimes. Twelve counties in Montana participated in 2008, while 11 counties are participating this year. Operation Stonegarden started in fiscal year 2005 and spread to 14 border states. Congress funded the Federal Emergency Management Agency with $60 million in grant funds for Operation Stonegarden in fiscal 2009. In addition, Montana launched the Interoperability Montana project to put state and federal agencies in Montana along with Canadian first responders on a very large, redundant communications system that enables instantaneous communication. Montana also has conducted its own international border exercises with the Port of Sweetgrass, wrapping up its second such exercise with Canadian authorities in September 2008. A major trade route runs along the state’s Interstate-15, which transports livestock and other goods north and south into and out of Canada. “We are working on two Canadian mutual aid efforts right now,” McGowan reported. “We need to establish an agreement that allows the Canadian provinces to share resources with any of the states — or any of the states to share resources with the Canadian provinces. That one has a special issue to deal with because it requires working through the Department of State and it requires congressional ratification. “Right now, it is four separate pockets of agreements. It’s one border, so let’s have one agreement that’s better than we have now that allows us to share resources freely like the current Emergency Management Assistance Compacts,” he added. Sharing resources and keeping legitimate trade routes open also rank high on the list of priorities for the state of Michigan. “In Michigan, we have a number of issues that we have been working on improving with Canada,” Tom Sands, Michigan deputy state director for emergency management and homeland security, told Homeland Security Today. “We have had some cooperative efforts that we have been doing—joint training missions, for example. For a long time, we have had interagency agreements that consist of a gentleman’s handshake on response capabilities. Almost on a daily basis, the people in Michigan are interacting with emergency management folks and first responders from Canada. “We are an active member of the Central Region Emergency Management Advisory Council. That’s a number of northern states—Minnesota, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin, as well as New York, Pennsylvania and Vermont—working in conjunction with Ontario and Quebec to develop formal written response plans. We are working on a number of issues, and we are Federal government solutions Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano ordered an assessment of northern border security strategy in January, responding to concerns from senators on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, including Carl Levin (D-Mich.), Clair McCaskill (D-Mo.), Jon Tester (D-Mont.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), and George Voinovich (R-Ohio). Only one member of the committee—John McCain (R-Ariz.) hails from a southern state with an international land border. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) attempted to address congressional concerns about US northern border security strategy in the past, submitting a report to Congress in February 2008 that identified terrorism, drug trafficking and illegal immigration as potential threats along the border. Extremist groups could use Canadian soil as a staging area for an attack on the United States, DHS warned in the report on Ongoing DHS Initiatives to Improve Security along the U.S. Northern Border (http://www.helenair.com/extras/borderinitiatives.pdf). “While illegal immigration along the Northern Border is not of the same magnitude as at the Southern Border, the difference is hard to quantify because of the terrain,” the report added. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) found in a November 2008 examination of the report that it failed to meet congressional demands for a northern border strategy. In Northern Border Security: DHS’s Report Could Better Inform Congress by Identifying Actions, Resources, and Time Frames Needed to Address Vulnerabilities (http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-09-93), GAO said DHS had not addressed 39 recommendations made by the agency to improve border security—-including recommendations to improve use of air and marine assets, improve screening processes at the ports of entry and deploy nuclear detection equipment. “As we have designed programs to afford greater protection against unlawful entry, members of Congress and homeland security experts have called for increased attention to the Canadian border,” stated Napolitano’s northern border security directive. “What are the current vulnerabilities, the overall strategy for reducing those vulnerabilities, the requirements, the programs, the budget and the timeframe for improving security along this border and what level of risk will remain once the programs are completed?” Multi-jurisdiction integration In order to implement the planned expansion of SBI to the northern border, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has begun work with The Boeing Co., Chicago, Ill., and other manufacturers 32 April 2009 | www.HSToday.us This month’s issue is now available online at…