Interviewer: Mirabella Meoni

Interviewee: Krista Schlyer

Date: January 28, 2019
Setting: Email correspondence

(Start of Interview)
Interviewer: How did you get your inspiration for the project on the borderlands1?
Documenting human impact on natural habitats seems to be something you
love, how did you become interested in this subject area?
Interviewee: In 2008 I had an assignment for Wildlife Conservation magazine about a
herd of bison that lived on the border of the US and Mexico, where the
states of Chihuahua and New Mexico meet. I went up in a small plane with
a researcher from Mexico City who was tracking the bison herd, trying to
keep track of their numbers and migration patterns. We happened to spot a
few members of the herd just as they were jumping over the border fence
that existed then-a three-string barbed wire fence that they had broken
down on numerous passages back and forth between the US and Mexico.
The scientist and I wanted to know more about why the bison were
crossing there, so we went to visit the landowners on both sides of the
border. In Mexico, a rancher said the bison visited his property every day
to access a pond, one of the only year-round water sources in the area. And
on the US side, a rancher said they came to his land almost every day to
graze on a particular type of grass. It was clear that their main food
resources were on opposite sides of the border. This was right after the
Secure Fence Act was passed, which mandated that 700 miles of enhanced
border barrier, much of it solid wall, be built on the US-Mexico border. It
stuck me then that this barrier could destroy any hope of survival for the
bison, and could have a similar effect on thousands of species who live in
the borderlands. I wanted to try and help people understand the magnitude
of the threat.
Interviewer: What victories did you have while photographing this project?
Can you tell me about some of the most memorable moments you had on
this project/shoot? What were your successes?
Interviewee: One of the first things I did was to organize and lead a group of 13
photographers from the International League of Conservation
Photographers on a one-month trip along this 2,000-mile border. That
month was incredibly memorable, both because it was so hard and so
rewarding. From that expedition we gathered thousands of photos of the
region and I put together an exhibit that was shown later that year in the
US House of Representatives and the Senate. Those were two early
successful outcomes of the project, but the inclination to build walls has
not waned. In 2012 I published a book called Continental Divide: Wildlife,
People, and the Border Wall, and have used that book to raise awareness
 about the beauty and biological value of the borderlands, as well as the
threats posed by border walls and militarization. That I count as a success,
but again, the appetite for building walls did not measurably wane. But
sometimes with work like this you have to know that each person you
reach is a success, and keep working harder and smarter until you reach a
tipping point. In 2018, for the first time ever, the US Congress limited
where wall could be built by saying no funding could be used to build wall
at the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge. I worked on a campaign to help
save Santa Ana, creating a film to inspire people to make phone calls on
behalf of the refuge. I was a success, but Congress still provided $1.6
billion in funding to build walls in other endangered habitats along the
border, so it was a pyrrhic victory. And the fight goes on to save those
places that are now targeted for wall construction.

Interviewer: What struggles did you face while photographing The Borderlands
Project? What were your toughest moments or your lowest points in the
shoot?

Interviewee: I think my lowest point was when the Obama administration began
building wall shortly after President Obama took office in 2009. I had
hoped our campaign had helped and that a new president, a Democrat,
would not continue with this destructive project. I realized then that I had
underestimated the hold that walls had on this country, and realized that
The Borderlands Project would be a lifelong endeavor, rather than the
year-long project I'd envisioned.

Interviewer: What change happened because of The Borderlands Project? What actual
effect did your photographs have? Did your images have any effect on the
project? Have you worked on a project where they made images that had a
"real" or transformative effect on the outcome of an environmental law, or
a positive outcome for wildlife?

Interviewee: I have seen my photographs, and those of the other photographers I've
worked with, change the perspective of thousands of people. Many people
have said to me over the years, 'I just had no idea the impact this would
have on wildlife'. Many have become advocates for the borderlands.
Sometimes conservation photography is casting a pebble, and knowing that
the ripples of consciousness will one day make a difference. Sometimes it's
hard to quantify. But in 2011, a group I was working with called the Sky
Island Alliance did a poll about people's views on border wall. They asked
people if they supported wall, and a majority, some 65 percent said they
did. Then they were told a few facts about the impact on wildlife, and the
percentage of supporters went down a few percentage points. Then they
were showed some of my photos, and the percentage went down to 48
percent. So there was a clear difference made by seeing what the wall was
doing. I have seen over the past decade that the support for walls has been
 steadily declining, and I know my work has been a part of that. The longest
shutdown of the US government in history, which just ended, was a battle
over wall funding. That would never have happened just a year ago, the
Democrats would have just given the money. There are a lot of factors at
play, but I know that my work is one of them.

Interviewer: What is your ultimate goal with your work? What is the purpose of what
you do? Why do you do it?

Interviewee: My ultimate goal for The Borderlands Project is to end the practice of
constructing border walls and tear down that which has already been built.
But also to help people think more deeply about the barriers we construct
all over the nation and the world, and the impact they have on the rest of
the living world. All of my work, on this and other projects, is to get
people to consider other living creatures and the lives they are trying to
live and the challenges we present to their survival. I believe most people
care if they take a moment to think about it. It's my job to help them take
that moment, to light a spark in their consciousness about the non-human
world.

Interviewer: What does conservation photography mean to you personally?

Interviewee: For me it’s a way of communicating value and responsibility. We humans

are so very wrapped up in ourselves and our own comforts and joys. But
the earth and its other inhabitants are at the mercy of our ability and
inclination to be less self centered, to look out into a forest and see all the
other lives being lived there, and to see the beauty and value of all of those
lives. I hope my work can help us see and understand the natural world
more deeply.

(End of Interview)

1. Borderlands Project