“These magnificent cottonwoods survived centuries, nourishing wildlife through floods and drought, only to be bulldozed for the Trump admin’s disastrous #borderwall. The San Rafael Valley is one of the most biologically rich landscapes in North America." @peccarynotpig.bsky.social #Arizona

Activists climb rare Arizona cottonwood to shield it from Trump border wall construction

Activists are protesting the construction pathway for President Trump’s border wall in Arizona because it would require the removal of an ancient cottonwood tree.  A demonstrator was arrested on We…

thehill.com

For more than 6 days now a tree sit in a cottonwood tree in the San Rafael Valley along the Arizona-Sonora border has halted construction of two parallel border walls.. This is the first-ever tree sit to halt border wall construction. Learn more @rally.forthevalley and @peccarrynotpig on IG.

A trail cam check on Monday revealed 3 clips of a beautiful male jaguar in a Sky Island south of Tucson, in the ancestral lands of the Tohono O'odham. Jaguars’ northern range is being ripped apart by border wall, mining, groundwater depletion and climate-driven drought. @biologicaldiversity.org

Hope you can make it to the launch of Borderlings, my new book of poetry, this Saturday, Oct. 18, 6:30-8. Reading at 7. Signed copies available at event. If not, you can order a copy through ArtSpeak Press here: www.artspeakpress.com/shop/p/borde...

The San Xavier District of the Tohono O’odham Nation in Arizona has passed one of the most moving and powerful resolutions memorializing the role of the jaguar as a protector of the O’odham with deep cultural and spiritual ties. The resolution also calls on U.S. Fish and Wildlife to…”

This interview with my dear colleague Russ McSpadden is a phenomenal roundup of our work to stop Trump's absurd and irreversibly destructive push to wall off Arizona's San Rafael Valley. And if you're not already following @peccarynotpig.bsky.social, you should!

Jack 🦫@jackhumphrey.com · 11mo ago

Biodiversity Battle in the Borderlands: I recently spoke with Russ McSpadden @peccarynotpig.bsky.social from @biologicaldiversity.org. Hear stories about Jaguars, Ocelots, Bears, a huge number of bird species, and what you can do to help protect them. www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ech...

Chasing a rainbow over the northernmost occupied jaguar habitat on the planet. Gotta love Arizona.

Excited to share this! Join us to celebrate the release of BORDERLINGS, the debut book of poems from environmental activist RUSS MCSPADDEN, Saturday October 18, 2025, 6:30pm doors, 7pm reading and book signing. Free & all-ages. Che's Lounge, 350 N. 4th Ave, Tucson Published by Artspeak Press.

Biodiversity Battle in the Borderlands: I recently spoke with Russ McSpadden @peccarynotpig.bsky.social from @biologicaldiversity.org. Hear stories about Jaguars, Ocelots, Bears, a huge number of bird species, and what you can do to help protect them. www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ech...

Episode 155: Jaguars, Justice, and the Border Wall – Stories from the Frontlines With Russ McSpadden

YouTube video by Rewilding Institute

youtube.com

BREAKING: The first segments of border wall have gone up in the San Rafael Valley, south of Tucson, Ariz. Construction crews have drilled at least two wells and have turned the area, a corridor for jaguars, pronghorn, bears, mountain lions, ocelots, porcupines, into an devastating industrial site.

There is still time. Will you help me - no matter what state - save all of THIS from foreign copper mining? Pls RT. By Aug. 27, send a quick email to BLM's AZ state & local office (tips and suggestions here: tinyurl.com/3ene6wa6).

Trump smearing us as ‘anti-American’. If Oak Flat is mined, the winners won't be Americans, and definitely not Native Americans, whose sacred site will be destroyed but two foreign mining giants, BHP (Australia) and Rio Tinto (UK) whose largest shareholder is a Chinese state-owned company.

@peccarynotpig.bsky.social

John Vaillant@johnvaillant.bsky.social · 12mo ago

"Blood Meridian" Rio Aros, Sonora Mexico

BREAKING: A US judge just denied our request for an injunction to the land transfer of Oak Flat to Resolution Copper. Oak Flat, a sacred site of the Apache and part of the Tonto National Forest, is scheduled to be privatized on Tuesday. With the clock ticking, we have appealed to the 9th Circuit.

The Forest Service intends to convey Oak Flat, an Apache sacred site, to Resolution Copper on August 19. @biologicaldiversity.org, conservation allies & San Carlos Apache Tribe will be in fed court August 6 to argue for a halt to the Oak Flat Land Exchange until our lawsuits are resolved.

Tribal leaders and environmentalists are asking the Bureau of Land Management to reverse course on a southern Arizona mining project it green-lit at the end of June.

Environmentalists, tribes ask BLM to reconsider southern Arizona mining project

The Copper Creek Exploration Project is the beginning stage of what could become an open-pit copper mine across a roughly 25 square mile stretch near the San Pedro River in the Galiuro mountain range ...

kjzz.org

“They…substituted corporate engagement for formal government-to-government consultation,” McSpadden said. “This…Project is a test case for whether BLM…has learned from SunZia or whether it will continue to fast track industry at the expense of tribes, ecosystems and public trust.”

Conservation groups challenge BLM approval of Copper Creek Mine in Pinal County

azpm.org

Then, read the full report by Center staff @peccarynotpig.bsky.social and @laikenjordahl.bsky.social to learn more. This report documents the San Rafael Valley’s biodiversity, the species it sustains, and its indispensable role in the survival of endangered wildlife. ➡️ biodiv.us/4l1iGfb

A recent Center report found that a new border barrier, in a remote part of Arizona, would threaten one of the most important remaining animal migration routes on the state’s southern border. Check out the @nytimes.com feature about it. ⬇️

Trump Wants a New Border Wall. It Would Block a Key Wildlife Corridor.

nytimes.com

Great coverage by @dmain.bsky.social for the New York Times on how new border wall construction could destroy one of the last, best wildlife corridors for jaguars, ocelots, bears and puma in the U.S., and @biologicaldiversity.org ‘s lawsuit to halt it.

Trump Wants a New Border Wall. It Would Block a Key Wildlife Corridor.

nytimes.com

Fourth lawsuit launched to challenge the land transfer of Apache sacred site to Resolution Copper.

'So much has been taken': Apache women sue to halt land swap for Oak Flat copper mine

Four Apache women filed suit in Washington, D.C., asking a judge to block a land exchange needed to build a copper mine at Oak Flat.

azcentral.com

It's #TeamJavelina time... two sets of lil' reds in this squadron... One pair born three weeks ago, the smaller pair is kitten-sized ‼️ and recently born. Look at the umbilical cords and 🔊 up for lip-smacking and grunts! #cameratrap

We just sued the Trump administration for waiving dozens of environmental laws to speed border wall construction through the San Rafael Valley in Arizona’s Sky Island region. More info: biodiv.us/462nspc

BREAKING: The Center for Biological Diversity sued the Trump Admin today for unconstitutionally waiving dozens of enviro laws to speed border wall construction across San Rafael Valley in AZ’s Sky Island region, a biodiversity hotspot w/the most significant jaguar corridor remaining along border.

Check out our new report by Center staff @peccarynotpig.bsky.social and @laikenjordahl.bsky.social that exposes how plans for new border wall construction in southeast Arizona pose dire threats to one of the last remaining jaguar corridors between the U.S. and Mexico. ➡️ biodiv.us/4nCzRX3

New @biologicaldiversity.org report by my colleague @laikenjordahl.bsky.social and I on the impending border wall construction across a jaguar corridor linking Arizona and Sonora, Mexico. The jaguars El Jefe, Yo’oko and O:shad have relied on this corridor. biologicaldiversity.org/species/mamm...

U.S. Customs & Border Protection has waived environmental, public health & Native American cultural protection laws, & awarded a > quarter of a billion dollar contract to Fisher Sand & Gravel to construct 27 miles of new border wall across critical habitat in the jaguar’s northern range.

Pima County should divest from the economy of death, not woo it into our communities.

Missile manufacturer eyes Southern Arizona as possible expansion hub

Castelion is hypersonic missile manufacturer based in California. The startup that got off in the ground in 2022.

kvoa.com

Another missile monger coming to southern Arizona?

We’re looking for a rad attorney for the Southwest Program at the Center for Biological Diversity. Love Southwest wildlife and wildlife? Take a look! biologicaldiversity.bamboohr.com/careers/121

Staff or Senior Attorney - Southwest

Job Title: Staff Attorney or Senior Attorney Program: Southwest Employment Type: [X] Salary   [  ] Hourly (exempt – this position is not eligible for overtime)                                    [  ] ...

biologicaldiversity.bamboohr.com