Border Wall Crews Fell Last Tree in Centuries-Old Cottonwood Grove Near Lochiel
A grove of cottonwood trees near Lochiel in Santa Cruz County, Arizona, along the U.S.-Mexico border, has been felled by border wall contractors, KJZZ reported on October 19. The last towering cottonwood in the grove, southeast of Tucson, was cut down earlier this month, and protesters filmed the tree crashing to the ground. The trees in the grove were estimated to be 150 to 200 years old.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection said clearing the grove was needed to make way for two parallel steel walls, part of a multibillion-dollar border wall project. The other trees in the grove were bulldozed more than two months ago, and protesters set up a wooden platform in the branches of the last tree and camped on adjacent private land. This month, Border Patrol agents entered the camp and used a crane to remove the person in the tree, after which construction accelerated, with a large steel panel going up roughly every six minutes.
The Tohono O'odham Nation has said thousands of iconic cacti could be cleared next. A federal judge has temporarily paused border wall construction in and around Big Bend National Park in Texas, but work in Arizona has continued. (GSM, via KJZZ)
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：亚利桑那州河岸地带的棉白杨林（资料图，非事件现场）。照片：美国林业局（U.S. Forest Service），公共领域。A cottonwood riparian grove in Arizona (file photo). Photo: U.S. Forest Service, public domain.
