Trees that were alive before the United States was founded are being cut down along the Arizona-Mexico border, and federal law is being pushed aside to make it happen.

In Lochiel, Arizona, Department of Homeland Security contractors felled three Fremont cottonwoods estimated to be 200 to 250 years old to clear a path for two 30-foot parallel border walls. Protesters have since climbed into a fourth surviving ancient tree to stop it from meeting the same fate.

These trees are irreplaceable.

The cottonwoods along the San Rafael Valley's rare riparian corridor provide nesting habitat and shelter for hundreds of animal species, including migratory birds, jaguars, ocelots, and black bears. "These magnificent cottonwoods survived centuries, nourishing wildlife through floods and drought," said Russ McSpadden, Southwest conservation advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity.

Federal officials said bird nesting surveys would be completed before construction began. Observers on the ground reported that no surveys were done before the trees fell. Construction is also proceeding under special legal authorities that waive the National Environmental Policy Act and the Endangered Species Act, bypassing the reviews that would normally be required.

The area also holds prehistoric archaeological sites with thousands of years of Indigenous history. Once gone, none of this can be recovered.

Sign this petition to demand that the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Customs and Border Protection halt construction in the Lochiel area, protect the remaining ancient cottonwoods, and complete required wildlife and cultural surveys before any further clearing takes place.