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By: Alvin George Summary: In the Southwest of the United States, construction of Donald Trump’s Mexican border wall continues. To clear a path for the wall the ironic saguaro cacti along the border are being uprooted and destroyed. These plants can reach heights of over 50 feet tall and live for around 200 years. These ancient plants are being destroyed to keep those in Mexico from entering the United States. Saguaros are no ordinary cactus since they provide food and shelter to native species. These plants are the state flower of Arizona and in Arizona it is illegal to harm a saguaro cactus like they are by those building the wall. Those caught harming the majestic saguaro cacti can face fines and even jail time for the harm. These laws are being ignored by the construction team responsible for the wall. Even worse is that the saguaro isn’t the only cactus species that is being affected by Donald Trump’s border wall. Organ pipe cactus is also affected at a park on the border. Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument sits at the border and is one of the places where this cactus seems to thrive. The park is a unique ecosystem due to the right conditions for this type of cactus to grow. This park was made to protect the native organ cactus and would be failing in its purpose if it allows the border wall to cut through the park. If the wall goes through the park, then the rare organ pipe cacti will have to be destroyed or relocated. Why we should care? The people are the ones who pay for the protection of these cacti. This cacti damage is a form of habitat loss since the cacti provide a home for bird species and produce edible fruits. These cacti are also significant to the tribal people.  Photo Credit: Adriana Zehbrauskas for the New York Times Example Article. https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-02-26/border-wall-saguaro-cactus This article was interesting to me because we could see how the construction contractors dealt with the problem of the cacti. There have been attempts to relocate some of the cacti but it is impossible to move a mature saguaro since they just grow so big. The fact that they were able to price saguaros by the foot and differently for mature ones is fascinating since they take a while to grow. We also see that the contractors are hiding the destroyed plants to avoid spending the time and money on the relocation of compensation for the damages. Surprisingly, the company is waived from the damages to cacti for the walls construction. Dr. David Dettman is a Research Scientist and Manager of the University of Arizona's Environmental Isotope Laboratory.
Dr. Dettman is currently working on a research project that to determine the changes in climate will impact the saguaro and columnar cacti species. He claims that the cacti is a foundation species due to the water and food they supply to the ecosystem. By looking at the presence of oxygen, hydrogen, and carbon isotope ratios, he can determine growth rates, fertility, and recorded climate changes as to the rings on a tree. Dr. Dettman’s research is significant to this blogpost due to him using his research to say that the Sonoran Desert relies on the saguaro cacti. Without them there would be drastic changes to the environment of the desert.
10 Comments
Cassidy Mullins
11/5/2020 12:10:10
Thank you for sharing. I had no clue they could live for up to 200 years! That's very impressive, and they deserve to be protected. If taxpayer money is what is protecting the cacti, they should definitely have a say how the construction of the border wall impacts them.
Jessica Sabatini
11/5/2020 12:38:09
I just think it's ironic that it is illegal to harm those cacti in Arizona, yet the US GOVERNMENT is destroying them due to racist ideologies from the current president. But, I guess he doesn't believe in science, so he wouldn't really understand the conservation of native species.
Hunter Cook
11/5/2020 13:31:46
This article just goes to show how little disregard Donald Trump and his followers have for anything asides from themselves. As the article states, there are so many lifeforms being effected in ways that are both necessary for life and culture as well. It's overall disgusting and hopefully humanity as a whole understands that we aren't the only ones that inhabit this planet.
Molly McKeon
11/7/2020 19:10:35
The saguaros take so much time to fully mature. These cactuses live to be so old and take so long to grow. The only area these cactuses are in is down where this wall is supposed to be built. I can only hope that a change in administration will either halt the building of further wall structures or can somehow amend what has been built to become more environmentally stable for our flora and fauna friends.
Melissa Davila Castro
11/7/2020 20:30:02
The amount of environmental damage being caused by the construction of the wall is deeply upsetting. Along with this the environmental laws that are being waived n order to make the construction go by faster is devastating. This blog post was very educating on how the cacti are being negatively affected and gives perspective as to why we can not just dig and rebury like many people would assume to do.
Michael VanPaepeghem
11/19/2020 10:23:53
It is amazing to see how easily the laws and rule book can be thrown out the window the second the government steps in. It is really disappointing that so little effort is put into protecting or relocating these plants. It makes me wonder what will happen to the park spanning between the US and Mexico. Maybe by the time a new president is in office changes to this construction plan will be made, hopefully halting it entirely.
Elizabeth Carlson
12/8/2020 10:54:00
This article is very eye opening. We all assumed the wall would effect animals but, not many people are aware of the plant life that is also being displaced. I am astonished that these cacti are protected and it is illegal to harm them yet the government is turning a blind eye to the law and uprooting these cacti for their own benifit. This is truly awful that there was laws places to protect them but the law failed to keep them safe.
Connor Edelstein
12/12/2020 16:43:56
The border wall is an incredibly depressing and infuriating subject. Not only due to wasting taxpayer dollars on a wall which surely will not prevent immigrants from coming into the USA, the treatment of said people trying to come into the USA, its contributions to removing groundwater crucial to the lifeforms in the already in-drought area, and potentially contributing to the extinction of many species (including the Saguaro cactus). Everything about this wall disgusts me. All of that for a wall that any determined human will find a way to maneuver.
Michael Knust
12/20/2020 16:07:56
Before reading this I never thought about the environmental damage from the border wall. It makes me really angry that contractors are trying to hide destroyed cacti to cut corners, but it does not surprise me. This wall does nothing, but harm (plus most people who come to the US illegally fly in anyways, but that is besides the point).
Lucas LaForte
12/22/2020 05:25:37
It is sad to see the destruction of this native species of cactus, especially when considering why they are being torn up in the first place. If you are asking me, the border wall is a complete and utter nightmare that is not only bad politically, but also ecologically. These cacti, as you stated are the state flower of Arizona, are treated with nothing but disregard by those who are constructing this border wall. But as you state in your article, this is not just about the cactus, but the entire native ecosystem as a whole. The loss of habitat for these cacti would also be a loss of habitat for the bird species that use them as a home. Most importantly, the cacti are significant to the tribal people of the area. As if the government hasn’t done enough to the Native American community already, the feds have to go ahead and do this. Leave a Reply. |
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