Crews cut down cottonwood trees at San Pedro River to make way for Trump's border wall

Erin Stone
Arizona Republic
Cut down trees at the San Pedro River crossing at the US-Mexico border on Feb. 3, 2020 as border wall construction begins over the river.

A week after more than a thousand people gathered at the Hereford Bridge over the San Pedro River to protest construction of a border wall, crews cut down five cottonwood trees, raising alarms among residents and activists. 

Jeff Sturges and his wife, Elizabeth Lopez, hiked to the area on Monday. They spent hundreds of hours in prior weeks organizing the protest to protect the river. When they arrived at the international boundary, they found trees felled and two Cochise County dumpsters full of debris. 

"It sure was disheartening to see everything ignored like that," Sturges said in a phone interview. He shared photos of the scene with The Arizona Republic.

Many people are concerned that wildlife migration, sensitive habitats, undeveloped landscapes and limited water resources will be irreparably harmed because the government waived dozens of federal environmental and cultural protection laws that typically trigger thorough studies before construction took place.  

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The loss of the trees underscores concerns about construction at the San Pedro, which flows northward from Sonora, Mexico, across the border into Arizona. Activists and locals fear that any additional infrastructure in the floodplain could effectively dam the river. 

During the summer monsoon, the river swells into a wide deluge, carrying with it debris, trees, trash and other objects. Just a few weeks ago, debris and mud could be seen pushed up against some of the Normandy-style barriers that currently mark the international boundary in the floodplain. 

Border Patrol removes these barriers during the monsoon to prevent flooding and debris buildup and agents monitor the river crossing 24 hours a day. 

"Anybody with common sense will know any structure that is built to restrict human movement will also restrict animal movement and also cause some devastating problems when whole trees wash down the river," Sturges said.

Plans call for a concrete culvert to be built at the river where it crosses the border, though Customs and Border Protection, the agency that oversees border security, would not confirm further design details.  

In an email to The Republic, the agency said it will remove fewer than 10 trees "in order to provide safe clearance for construction equipment that will be used for new border wall construction in this area." About a dozen trees had been marked for removal several months ago.

In a press release, a Cochise County spokesperson said the county was not aware the dumpsters were being used for the border infrastructure project until Tuesday morning. 

A cut down tree at the San Pedro river crossing at the US-Mexico border on Feb. 3, 2020 as border wall construction is beginning over the river.

The County’s Public Works Department had contracted the dumpsters for yard waste at the Coronado National Memorial visitor center, according to the press release. After arriving at the visitor center on Monday, the driver was redirected to the San Pedro River for the border fence project, according to the release.

"Cochise County has not been contracted or communicated with by any federal agencies to assist with the border fence project," a county spokesperson said in a press release. "The County has no jurisdiction with regards to projects built on federally owned land and has not been consulted on this issue."

Last week, Bureau of Land Management field staff met with representatives from Customs and Border Protection and the US Army Corps of Engineers, the agency overseeing the construction contractor, to discuss the contractor's plans to remove trees in the Roosevelt Reservation, a 60-foot-wide easement owned by the federal government along the border.

The Bureau of Land Management oversees the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area, which is hemmed along the border by the Roosevelt easement at the San Pedro River crossing.  

"CBP will continue to consult with the Bureau of Land Management to identify measures that avoid or minimize environmental impacts to this area, to the greatest extent possible," the agency wrote in a statement.

Meanwhile, locals who will live with the impacts of new fencing are watching the construction unfold with little communication from the agencies carrying it out. The Cochise County Board of Supervisors said it plans to reach out to the Army Corps of Engineers "to ask for further information about the border fence and its environmental impacts," according to the press release.

"I'm hoping that there’s still a chance to stop this horrendous project," said Sturges. "It really is only there to further Trump’s political future. There was a wide coalition of people here, some of them Trump supporters, who came here last week to call for protecting the San Pedro and not building a wall across the river. There are a lot of people who love the river here. It's very special." 

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Erin Stone covers the environment for The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com. Send her story tips and ideas at erin.stone@arizonarepublic.com and follow her on Twitter @Erstone7.

Environmental coverage on azcentral.com and in The Arizona Republic is supported by a grant from the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust. Follow The Republic environmental reporting team at environment.azcentral.com and @azcenvironment on FacebookTwitter and Instagram.