The tree is known as a "Grandmother" to people living in Arizona. She is an ancient Frémont cottonwood. At around 200 years old, she's a deeply important part of the region's ecosystem, an area rich with biodiversity and unique animals. Her branches have sometimes been home to endangered and threatened nesting birds.
But this Grandmother tree also sits at the meeting point of the US-Mexico border. And the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency, within the larger U.S. Department of Homeland Security, has stated a determination to
tear her down as part of a border wall expansion. In doing so, it would not just hurt this ancient tree who has withstood the test of time, but it would also destroy an important wildlife corridor that animals need in order to survive.
She's already survived so much, for centuries. Don't let this be her undoing. Sign the petition to protect this Grandmother cottonwood tree! Demand that the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency agree to leave her alone and stop destroying ecosystems!This particular Grandmother tree was part of a grove of four ancient cottonwoods, but now, she is the only one left standing. In late July 2026, contractors with Trump's CBP agency stormed in using excavator equipment and destroyed her three tree companions. They almost destroyed this last surviving tree as well, beginning with tearing at her roots. But luckily, environmentalists rushed to the scene and saved her - by staging a "tree sit."
For over a month, activists have been sitting, sleeping, and generally living in and around the tree to protect her. She exists on private land, and the landowner has given the activists their blessing.
Native American tribes are also rushing to protect this tree and her surrounding environment. For example, the Tohono O'odham Nation filed a lawsuit this summer and then made an official announcement that it is closing its tribal lands to CBP, refusing access to their land.
But the Trump administration is not making this easy.
Already, helicopter pilots with the CPB have intentionally flown overhead multiple times, "dusting" the activists with rotor wash. Rotor wash is the powerful downward wind gusts under helicopters that can be forceful enough to injure people through being knocked down or hit with flying debris.
Tree-sits have been successful in the past.
In 1997, a woman spent over 2 years tree-sitting in a 1,000 year old Redwood that was slated to be destroyed in California.
Her activism successfully resulted in protections for that tree. We know this can work - we just have to stand with the activists and elevate their efforts.
Sign the petition to demand full protections for the remaining ancient cottonwood tree, and an end to CBP's efforts to decimate local ecosystems! 