Golfers, residents told border patrol will not allow illegal entries

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By Mark Rickard

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The barriers may not be up yet, but the message was very clear: Brown and Russell Roads are closed to Canadian vehicles who want to use the highways to access the Aroostook Valley County Club or any Canadian property located on the United States - Canadian border.

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The United States Border Patrol held their second town hall meeting in Fort Fairfield last week to discuss the unique situation of the historic golf club and Canadian and American property on Brown Road and Russell Road near Four Falls, NB and Fort Fairfield, Maine. For 80 years Canadians and Americans have been technically making illegal entries into both countries to play golf or visit the home of Nickolaj Pedersen, who must drive on the U.S. Road to access his Canadian farm. Canadian golfers and suppliers and vendors at the golf course have traditionally travelled from Brown Road at the Canada-U.S. border to Russell Road, which is in the United States, to reach the golf course. Once at the parking lot the golfers walk back across the road to play golf at the 18-hole course in Canada. Golfers retracing their steps must check into a Canada Border Service Agency port of the entry back on Brown Road, which is open seasonally, before returning to Canada.

But Chief Patrol Agent Joseph Mellia informed the meeting participants that the days of travelling unchallenged from Canada into the US along this route are gone. He said it was a fact that 90 per cent of the Canadian population lives within 100 miles of the United States' Northern border, and Canada has an "undisputed presence" of international extremists like Hezbollah, Hamas and other terrorist groups.

"Four Falls and Brown Road came up as a high threat area for us. It is an unguarded road, a paved highway coming from Canada into the United States. You can easily access (Maine highway) 1a onto 1 onto Interstate 95…. On the Canadian side it is minutes from the Trans Canada Highway. It creates a big gap in our security."

Mellia said he was instructing his border patrol agents to take this action because Brown Road "is a gaping hole" in the US- Canadian border. Security concerns cannot be ignored and, "sooner rather than later", border patrol agents positioned in the area will not allow anyone to drive from Canada into the US on Russell Road.

"We have talked to the Town of Fort Fairfield, we have talked to the RCMP and CBSA and we have had the RCMP reach out to the folks on the Canadian side. An agent stationed up there will not allow vehicles to proceed south into the United States."

Chief Mellia told the audience what U.S. laws they were violating if they make an illegal entry into the states, and explained what would happen to offenders. First time offenders are stopped, the person's identity is verified and they are escorted out of the country; by the fourth illegal entry offenders will be prosecuted and their vehicle will be seized.

"Every time you come down that and are stopped you will be entered into several computer checks. Be forewarned; do not use the Brown Road to enter the United States," Chief Mellia stated.

The border patrol agent also announced a working group of American and Canadian border officials and police, representatives from the Town of Fort Fairfield and the Village of Perth-Andover, and at least one U.S. and Canadian landowner will be assembled to help come up with a reasonable conclusion to the border issue.

"We will be forming this in the near future and ask them to participate."

The news that access to the Pedersen family farm would only be allowed by visiting a U.S. Customs port did not sit well with Joan and Jim McCue of Woodstock, the daughter and son- in-law of Nickolaj Pedersen. The McCues complained that their family would suffer because of border patrol restrictions.

Joan McCue asked if she could park her car at the Canadian border and walk on Canadian soil to her father's house. Chief Mellia replied he was not trying to make the situation difficult.

"Well you are. I'm sorry sir, but you are. You are denying us access to our home and our father," she stated.

"No, I am not. I am denying you driving down Brown Road and entering the United States illegally," Chief Mellia responded.

McCue said her father, an 86-year-old war veteran, was driving two minutes into the United States before he entered his Canadian driveway.

"If he has a heart attack or something, no one is going to come and take care of Mr. Pedersen," McCue stated.

"We have already talked to our agents. If an ambulance comes down the (Brown) road to go to Mr. Pedersen's house, they will allow it to come down. We are going to be reasonable about things of that nature," the agent stated.

Customs officials at the meeting confirmed they would allow McCue to bring prepared meals across the border at Fort Fairfield to deliver to her father.

When asked if American golfers, who park their cars in the United States and walk into Canada to play golf would be allowed back into the country, Mellia replied U.S. citizens who are "pedestrian traffic are not a high priority" for the border patrol.

"As we try to work with the situation, US citizens who are residents here in Maine, who are going to play a few rounds of golf and coming back in, it is all a question of threat assessment and risk assessment," said Steven Farquharson, US Customs and Border Protection District Field officer.

Dan Foster, Fort Fairfield town manager, told the federal agents Canadians and Americans in the area are close friends and family members who are frustrated with the changes.

"We have practices that we should be able to do, like plow the road, we do have people who use that road to access property into the United States, and I want assurances that will continue to happen. We also have two U.S. citizens who drive off the Canadian side of the road to their homes. They have family members and friends who want to visit them."

Agent Mellia said U.S. citizens will be allowed to access their properties and the road could be plowed. Chub Clark, "the last U.S. citizen on the road", was assured he would be able to back out his driveway onto Canadian soil and drive into the states without having to report to customs.

"I am the guy in the last house and I travel the road all the time. I have come to know the border patrolmen and I all do is wave and they wave back. I won't trade pickups because I want them to identify me. But listen, Nick Pedersen is one of my best friends. I am sorry, but," Clark said, his voice quivering with emotion.

"I understand the cultural aspects here, how the golf course and the road was formed in the 1920's, and how there was a port of entry there until the 1950's. But it is now 2008 and things have changed, the world has changed, and to be able to go back stick our heads in the sand… it is not reasonable to expect that from me, or my agents who are sworn officers, expected to protect the border of the United States. I am trying to be reasonable, I am reaching out and talking to you," Agent Mellia replied.

Several people asked if the United States would put a port of entry, similar to the Canadian customs port near the golf course, to solve the problem. Farquharson said it was not cost-effective to place a customs port where the Fort Fairfield port was open 24 hours a day and only five miles away.

"We fully prepared to serve the community and the residents coming from Canada who want to enter from the port through the golf course. We don't see there would be any problem or delay coming through the port into Fort Fairfield for the golf course."

A Fort Fairfield resident asked if the road would soon have a physical barrier to prevent traffic, and the federal agent replied that he would hope a reasonable solution can come from the working group.

A Perth-Andover resident, who is a golf club member, said he didn't see the threat that the U.S. agents perceive from Canadians driving down Brown and Russell Road to play golf.

"I only have to be wrong once. You are going to ask me if I have apprehended a terrorist on Brown Road, and the answer is no. But I have apprehended a terrorist on the northern border. This gives the Border Patrol a level of comfort to make sure there aren't vehicles driving down the road unimpeded out of Canada," Agent Mellia replied.

A golf club member pointed out that the golf course and provincial signage directing tourists and visitors to Aroostook Valley Country Club directs traffic to the Broad Road entrance. AVCC directors would have to ask the province to change the signage to reroute traffic through Fort Fairfield.

Dave Ricker, AVCC president, pointed out the golf club is an international community, with both Canadian and American club members and directors.

"To our Canadian friends who come into Fort Fairfield next spring through the (U.S.) port of entry to play golf, the Canadian government has indicated they are going to keep their seasonal port of entry open. Canadians will still be able to go out the Brown Road and back into Canada," Ricker stated.

"Has any serious thought been given to building a Canadian road off the Brown Road to the country club?" a golfer asked.

"There has been a lot of talk but not much action," another golfer replied.

Paula Silsby, a U.S. attorney, told the crowd that she hopes to never see anyone who has tried to cross the border illegally four times and are now facing prosecution.

"It is my hope that I never see anyone in that context. I realize the frustration that this post-911 world brings to all of our lives…. The reality if there was a terrorist attack in the state of Maine, I and my office would be responsible for prosecuting it. That is one of the inconveniences we have all had to endure because those men, who on 9-11, chose to act on their hatred and try to change our way of life," Silsby stated. "The terrorists only have to be right once, we in law enforcement have to be right every single day."

After the meeting Steve Leitch, AVCC's golf pro and club manager, said the border patrol decision was not surprising, but it is disappointing news that could negatively affect the historic club.

"We all know this is probably the reality, there are not too many places in the world where you can drive from one country to another without being checked or accounting for yourself, but it is disappointing for Aroostook Valley and certainly will hurt business," Leitch said.

The club manager acknowledged that Aroostook Valley revenues were down this year, but he said it is difficult to estimate what effect the increased Border Patrol presence had on local golf.

"There were other factors this year including the economy and the weather, but certainly the exposure on the road and early talk about closing the road certainly had to have some type of effect," Leitch said. "But we will have to plan ahead that this is the way it is going to be. We are all creatures of habit and it is going to take some time to adjust."

Leitch said it may be possible to have a road constructed on the Canadian side to the 14th hole, but that would require a new clubhouse or shuttle service. Whatever the outcome, Leitch stressed that Aroostook Valley must continue to be an international course.

"We can't survive as an American golf course and we can't survive as a Canadian golf course. We need everyone out there working together to keep this afloat. I think its good news that they are going to have the working group. Hopefully there will be some conclusion," Leitch said.