A Giant “Grandmother” Tree Sparked a New Struggle to Block Trump’s Border Wall
A single tree sit harnessed a cross-border movement to defend the Arizona borderland ecology. So far, the activists are blocking Trump’s wall. The post A Giant “Grandmother” Tree Sparked a New Struggle to Block Trump’s Border Wall appeared first on The Intercept .
In southeast Arizona, a 200-year-old cottonwood tree has become the epicenter of a movement to halt the construction of President Donald Trump's border wall. The tree, known as a "grandmother" tree, has been occupied by a group of activists since late July, with an encampment of locals situated below at all times. The ongoing construction of two 30-foot-high parallel walls has already disrupted the San Rafael Valley, a wildlife migration corridor renowned for its biodiversity.
The region is considered a critical jaguar habitat and a unique ecosystem that would be devastated by the border wall. When construction workers removed three of these "grandmother" trees on July 27, the protesters immediately took action to save the last tree standing on the U.S. side. Since then, a continuous protest and tree sit has taken place, supported by both local and binational activists.
The tree sitter remains in the cottonwood at all times, and the encampment, technically on private land, has grown in size as the struggle against the border wall continues.
Written by urgent.news from The Intercept's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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