Overview
- Contractors working for the Department of Homeland Security felled three of four century-old Fremont cottonwood trees near Lochiel, Arizona, as part of border-wall construction on July 27.
- U.S. Border Patrol had told activists in a June 18 letter that the trees lie inside the 60-foot Roosevelt Reservation and 'will be removed,' and said environmental monitors and nest buffer zones would be used.
- Activists and on-site observers say those promised protections were not followed and reported nesting Cassin’s kingbirds and other wildlife in the trees before they were cut down.
- Conservation groups have launched a tree-sit at the last remaining cottonwood, staged an encampment, and urged an immediate stop to work while calling for comprehensive biological and cultural surveys.
- The removals come under the administration’s larger 'Smart Wall' buildout, which used large contracts and authorities that can speed construction without standard environmental or historic- preservation reviews, raising questions about how sensitive borderlands are being handled.