Thorny issue: Ancient cacti uprooted for border wall construction

The Trump administration has been accused of destroying hundreds of ancient saguaro cacti in Arizona as Donald Trump’s border wall construction continues across the state. Environmental activists allege that “hundreds and hundreds of ancient saguaros” have been pulled down since border wall construction began. That includes saguaro uprooted within the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, an International Biosphere Reserve home to the protected cacti. Arizona state law prohibits anyone from harming, shooting or removing saguaros, which can grow to more than 45 feet in height and live up to 200 years, according to the US National Parks Service. Still, the US Department for Homeland Security (DHS) has uprooted hundreds along the border wall some 100 miles south of Yuma, Arizona, where president Trump celebrated 200 miles of wall being completed last week. An ex-Organ Pipe park contractor who now works with The Centre for Biological Diversity, Laiken Jordahl, has documented the destruction online...MORE