‘A whole ecosystem:’ Border wall construction inches toward historic cottonwoods in Lochiel

This article originally appeared on Arizona Public Media, Southern Arizona’s PBS and NPR station.

In sweltering heat Tuesday morning, a contractor steered a yellow excavator along a dirt road in Lochiel, 25 miles east of Nogales.

He tore a gaping hole into the U.S.-Mexico border fence within minutes, and the screech of warping metal echoed through the San Rafael Valley.

The old fence is set to be replaced by a taller, 30-foot barrier, according to the Department of Homeland Security officials, who announced the plan last year. DHS also plans to build a secondary wall through the valley.

In the path of that construction sits a towering cluster of cottonwood trees, their canopy offering respite from the blistering June sun. The grove, fueled by the Santa Cruz River aquifer, houses a menagerie of animals and insects. It also serves as a gathering place for neighbors, who’ve congregated beneath the branches for events ranging from birthday celebrations to community cleanups, Lochiel resident Laurie Butler told AZPM.

“It’s kind of the heart of that little valley,” Butler said.

As border wall construction inches toward the cottonwoods, residents and conservation advocates say it’ll destroy an ecological treasure that’s endured for generations, if not centuries, in the quiet ranching community.

It’s not clear when border wall construction would begin directly affecting the cottonwood trees. Reached this week for comment, U.S. Customs and Border Protection did not provide a timeline for the project.

Erick Meza with the Sierra Club said he contacted CBP officials over the issue and received a response stating that four cottonwood trees would be removed to construct the barrier.

“They cannot be relocated. Other trees will be trimmed in order to safely operate equipment in the area. The rest of the cottonwood grove will remain untouched,” the agency said in a June 18 letter shared by the Sierra Club.

In a comment, a CBP spokesperson said border wall construction was underway, adding that the agency did not have any updates beyond the June 18 letter it sent to the Sierra Club.

‘We breathe from it’

In the meantime, volunteers are monitoring the construction from a patch of private land nearby, with the property owner’s approval.

Kate Scott, co-founder of the nonprofit Madrean Archipelago Wildlife Center, is one of those volunteers. As she stood beneath the shade of a cottonwood on Tuesday, her eyes wandered toward a nearby Vermillion Flycatcher, its brilliant orange feathers fluttering between leaves and branches.

“Each tree is its own universe. There are a hundred species in this area: ants, lizards, birds, what’s happening underground in the roots,” she said. “In cutting each (cottonwood) down, you’re kind of destroying a whole ecosystem.”

That day, contractors worked west of the cottonwood grove, leaving the construction site in the afternoon. The trees remained intact for the time being.

Long after the dust of Tuesday’s construction had settled, 74-year-old Ruben Peralta stood in northern Sonora and peered into the United States, his eyes shaded by a baseball cap.

For most of his life, Peralta has lived in Santa Cruz, Sonora — a small town that sits several miles south of Lochiel. The cottonwood grove miles north, however, is familiar to him.

The cottonwoods sitting in the San Rafael Valley, he guessed, have been standing for a century. The Sierra Club estimates some could be more than 200 years old.

“We breathe from it, we live from it, and it’s an ornament to the border here, for both countries, for us and for you in the United States,” Peralta told AZPM. “How is it possible that they want to tear them down?”

As of Friday, the construction has not reached the cottonwood grove, Scott said.