A bulldozer plows through land during construction for a section of border wall near Santa Elena Canyon on August 14, 2026 in Big Bend National Park, Texas. | Photo: Brandon Bell via Getty Images About 22 miles south of the former mining town of Patagonia, Arizona, down a winding, unpaved mountain road that passes cows grazing on open range, stands a cottonwood tree believed to be at least 200 years old.
The "grandmother" tree, as some locals call it, is imperiled and already showing signs of stress, almost as if it knows its fate.
The leaves are yellowing prematurely, falling to the ground at the height of summer.
On July 27th, a construction crew felled three neighboring trees to build an extension of President Donald Trump's wall along the US-Mexico border.
An activist climbed up the last tree standing two days later and ever sin … Read the full story at The Verge.