The last cottonwood tree along the U.S.-Mexico border in a remote Arizona town has been felled

Contractors bulldozed the last standing cottonwood tree on the Arizona border earlier this month after armed border control agents raided the camp of protestors who were protecting the tree, arresting at least 10 people, Stephanie Casanova reports for High Country News. The protestors had protected the tree for more than 70 days. 

"Dubbed the 'grandmother tree,' the cottonwood cut down Monday was hundreds of years old. It was one of several that lined the edge of private property along Border Road, a dirt road that runs along the U.S.-Mexico border, in a remote area of Arizona in the San Rafael Valley about 25 miles east of Nogales," Casanova reports. 

Activists established a tree-sit in June to protect the grandmother tree, and at least one person slept in the tree at all times. Their efforts delayed construction of the double-border wall along the U.S.-Mexico border near the remote ranching town of Lochiel. 

Douglas Main of The Guardian reports that "the valley, and the Patagonia and Huachuca mountains on either side of it, form one of the most important regional wildlife corridors between the US and Mexico, providing passage to animals including jaguars, ocelots, bears and even beavers and porcupines in recent years." Main writes that while the border wall cuts off this corridor from the animals, the construction sucks up the water from the trees.

The cottonwood trees "depend on a regular supply of water underground," but construction has dried up wells throughout the region, threatening the flora of this unique landscape. Main writes that CPB won't say how much water they're currently using, "but in 2008 it estimated a smaller wall nearby could use up to 710,00 gallons per mile for construction."