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# From a Border Cottonwood to National Parks, How Federal Land Protections Are Being Changed
- URL: https://www.theamericanquorum.com/from-a-border-cottonwood-to-national-parks-how-federal-land-protections-are-being-changed/
- Published: 2026-10-18T01:30:39.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-18T01:30:39.000Z
- Description: The loss of Arizona’s “grandmother” cottonwood exposes a wider debate over border-law waivers, monument reductions and proposed development. Federal records show which safeguards changed, what remains protected and where courts have intervened.
- Author: News Desk
- Tags: US, Alaska, Arizona, California, Texas, Utah

Federal contractors removed the last of four cottonwood trees in Lochiel, Arizona, on October 5 after protesters spent roughly 70 days trying to protect it from border-wall construction. The loss of the tree they called “grandmother” has become a focal point in a wider dispute over how the Trump administration is changing the protections governing environmentally and culturally important places.

Local reporting by [KJZZ](https://www.kjzz.org/fronteras-desk/2026-10-05/at-least-10-arrested-at-arizona-mexico-border-as-250-year-old-cottonwood-tree-cut-down-for-wall?ref=theamericanquorum.com) and [AZPM](https://news.azpm.org/p/azpmnews/2026/10/5/231462-border-patrol-arrests-tree-sitters-cuts-down-grandmother-cottonwood/?ref=theamericanquorum.com) establishes the removal and prolonged protest. Customs and Border Protection confirmed that all four cottonwoods identified for removal on federal land were gone. The available evidence describes planned clearing for construction, rather than an accidental loss; it does not establish that the removal was intended to punish the protesters.

Across the country, related disputes involve several different government actions: border-law waivers, reduced monument boundaries, restored road permits and proposed revisions to conservation rules. Their consequences cannot be assessed as though they were a single policy. Some have already changed landscapes; others authorize future activity or remain contested proposals.

## What protected the tree—and what is unproven

The Lochiel cottonwood stood in the San Rafael Valley along the U.S.–Mexico boundary. KJZZ described the grove as estimated to be up to 250 years old, but that estimate does not establish that the particular tree predated American independence. The public records reviewed for this article also did not establish an individual historic-landmark designation or preservation order protecting the tree.

The documented legal change concerned the construction program. A DHS [June waiver](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2025-06-05/pdf/2025-10235.pdf?ref=theamericanquorum.com), published June 5, 2025, set aside numerous laws for specified Tucson-sector border segments. A subsequent [court complaint](https://iptp-production.s3.amazonaws.com/media/documents/2025.07.08%5FComplaint%5F-%5FCenter%5Ffor%5FBiological%5FDiversity%5Fv.%5FNoem.pdf?ref=theamericanquorum.com) identified San Rafael Valley construction among the projects challenged. The waiver covers roads, excavation, staging areas and site preparation, as well as barriers.

Its list includes the National Environmental Policy Act, Endangered Species Act, Clean Water Act and National Historic Preservation Act. Their normal functions differ. [NEPA review](https://www.epa.gov/nepa/national-environmental-policy-act-review-process?ref=theamericanquorum.com) examines environmental consequences and alternatives for covered federal actions. [Species protections](https://www.fws.gov/laws/endangered-species-act/section-7?ref=theamericanquorum.com) require agencies to ensure their actions do not jeopardize listed species or adversely modify designated critical habitat, with consultation requirements.

Historic-preservation law requires consideration of effects on listed or eligible historic properties. The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation explains that [Section 106](https://www.achp.gov/digital-library-section-106-landing/section-106-applicant-toolkit?ref=theamericanquorum.com) encourages preservation without guaranteeing that outcome. Neither a tree’s age nor its community significance automatically establishes a statutory prohibition against removal. Waiving review removes safeguards that could require alternatives and mitigation; it does not prove that retaining those safeguards would necessarily have saved this tree.

## An exception Congress created

The border-waiver authority predates Trump. Congress expanded it through the REAL ID Act of 2005, amending the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act. The [CRS](https://www.congress.gov/crs%5Fexternal%5Fproducts/R/PDF/R47979/R47979.2.pdf?ref=theamericanquorum.com) explains that the homeland security secretary may waive legal requirements considered necessary for expeditious construction of border barriers and roads. Exercising that authority is discretionary.

CRS counted five uses under George W. Bush and 27 during Trump’s first administration. The Biden administration continued some work under existing waivers and issued a new waiver in October 2023\. The history therefore spans administrations, although the projects selected, frequency of use and approaches to environmental planning have differed.

DHS’s June 2025 determination cited unlawful entries and drug seizures in the Tucson sector to justify accelerating construction. In its response about the cottonwoods, CBP also emphasized environmental damage associated with unauthorized immigration, according to the [published account](https://www.hcn.org/articles/the-grandmother-cottonwood-trees-bulldozed-for-the-border-wall/?ref=theamericanquorum.com). Those explanations state the government’s objectives. They do not independently demonstrate why preserving these particular trees or changing the alignment was infeasible.

## Earlier construction left documented damage

A [GAO investigation](https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-23-105443.pdf?ref=theamericanquorum.com) published in September 2023 documented environmental and cultural-resource effects from border construction undertaken between 2017 and January 2021\. It recorded tribal officials’ accounts of blasting damage at Monument Hill and destruction of a burial site near Quitobaquito Springs. It also cited a Fish and Wildlife Service analysis linking construction water use to reduced artesian pressure at San Bernardino National Wildlife Refuge.

The report identified habitat fragmentation, vegetation loss, erosion and disrupted water flows. Replacing vehicle barriers with more restrictive pedestrian barriers could impede animals that previously crossed through wider openings. GAO also found that the 2021 construction pause and contract cancellations sometimes interrupted drainage improvements, revegetation and care for transplanted cacti, worsening unresolved damage.

The accountability record has since changed in part. GAO’s [recommendation tracker](https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-23-105443?ref=theamericanquorum.com) says CBP completed a lessons-learned recommendation in spring 2026\. A joint CBP–Interior mitigation strategy remained partially addressed, with approval anticipated later in 2026\. That record separates documented harm, improvements in planning and restoration work still awaiting completion.

## Courts and monument boundaries

At Big Bend in Texas, construction plans have produced another test of waiver authority. On October 2, U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone issued a [preliminary injunction](https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/government-affairs/pdfs/ORDER%20GRANTING%2034%20Motion%20for%20Preliminary%20Injunction%20Signed%20by%20Judge%20Kathleen%20Cardone.pdf?ref=theamericanquorum.com) staying the challenged waivers and prohibiting construction or ground disturbance in the Big Bend sector unless the government complies with applicable laws. She found likely success on at least one claim and a likelihood of irreparable harm without intervention. The order is not a final judgment resolving every legal issue.

CBP defended its assessment and legal authority, [AP reported](https://apnews.com/article/56ea4f79b989a4c894e1f2256bc0b886?ref=theamericanquorum.com). Plans for the national park have involved vehicle barriers and patrol roads, distinct from taller wall segments elsewhere in the broader sector. Opposition has included landowners, businesses and environmental groups, showing that the conflict also concerns access, livelihoods and local decision-making.

In Utah, Trump’s July 13 proclamations reduced [Bears Ears](https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/07/modifying-the-bears-ears-national-monument/?ref=theamericanquorum.com) to approximately 121,096 acres and [Grand Staircase–Escalante](https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/07/modifying-the-grand-staircase-escalante-national-monument/?ref=theamericanquorum.com) to roughly 182,000 acres. They followed his 2017 reductions and President Joe Biden’s 2021 restorations. The administration argues that earlier boundaries exceeded the Antiquities Act’s requirement to reserve the smallest area compatible with protecting designated objects.

Opponents dispute that interpretation and presidential authority to make the reductions. On October 13, Judge Tanya Chutkan [reopened litigation](https://earthjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/286-order-granting-mtn-reopen-case-lift-stay.pdf?ref=theamericanquorum.com) and required advance notice of ground-disturbing activities on excluded lands, as [Utah reporting](https://utahnewsdispatch.com/2026/10/16/judge-reopens-lawsuits-challenging-cuts-of-bears-ears-grand-staircase/?ref=theamericanquorum.com) confirmed. Removing monument status changes applicable protections; it neither abolishes every remaining law nor establishes that physical damage has already occurred throughout the excluded acreage.

## Road approvals and commercial proposals

Alaska’s Ambler Road illustrates a different mechanism. The Biden administration [rejected access](https://www.doi.gov/node/58466?ref=theamericanquorum.com) across BLM-managed lands in June 2024 after identifying serious environmental and subsistence concerns. Trump reversed that direction in 2025\. The [Park Service](https://www.nps.gov/gaar/learn/management/ambler-row.htm?ref=theamericanquorum.com) records issuance of its right-of-way permit on October 21, 2025, for the proposed 211-mile industrial mining road.

Congress expressly contemplated transportation access across part of Gates of the Arctic National Preserve in the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act. That makes the dispute more specific than a blanket prohibition being discarded: route, conditions, subsistence impacts and statutory duties matter. Interior says restored [road authorizations](https://www.doi.gov/node/63676?ref=theamericanquorum.com) support resource development and economic opportunity. Permission to proceed should not be confused with completed construction.

At Yosemite, a preliminary land-exchange arrangement would facilitate access across park land to the privately owned Hazel Green property outside the park. [Independent reporting](https://www.wsj.com/us-news/yosemite-kingsbarn-realty-capital-08ea0831?ref=theamericanquorum.com) describes the preliminary agreement, while a [congressional letter](https://www.schiff.senate.gov/news/press-releases/news-schiff-padilla-costa-huffman-lead-bipartisan-congressional-push-to-stop-proposed-yosemite-land-transfer-to-trump-donor/?ref=theamericanquorum.com) challenges the proposed conveyance. The developer has offered another California property in exchange, according to [USA Today](https://protectnps.org/2026/09/03/usa-today-a-piece-of-yosemite-could-be-privatized-what-that-means-for-visitors/?ref=theamericanquorum.com). This is a dispute over park-land access benefiting adjacent commercial development, not an established approval to construct a hotel inside Yosemite.

## Changing the rules before the next project

USDA’s August 2026 [proposed repeal](https://regulations.justia.com/regulations/fedreg/2026/08/20/2026-16965.html?ref=theamericanquorum.com) of the 2001 Roadless Rule would remove broad restrictions on road building and timber harvesting in covered national-forest areas. The agency cites regulatory burdens and local management flexibility. Other legal and land-management constraints would remain. National forests are distinct from national parks, and the proposal does not itself approve every future road.

Historic-preservation procedures are also under review. On July 24, the preservation council [voted](https://www.achp.gov/news/achp-votes-move-forward-notice-proposed-rulemaking?ref=theamericanquorum.com) to advance proposed Section 106 revisions into interagency review. Separately, BLM’s October 8 [winter-exploration exclusion](https://www.blm.gov/press-release/blm-streamlines-winter-exploration-alaskas-national-petroleum-reserve?ref=theamericanquorum.com) allows qualifying Alaska petroleum-reserve activities to avoid a full environmental assessment while retaining extraordinary-circumstances screening. Streamlined compliance and wholesale statutory waivers are different tools.

Together, the records show an administration giving construction and resource-development objectives greater weight through several legal pathways. They also show why each decision requires scrutiny on its own terms. At Lochiel, the public evidence reviewed leaves the tree’s exact age, individual legal status and the analysis of preservation alternatives unresolved. The removal is irreversible; the larger question is what enforceable review communities retain before the next such decision is carried out.

*Feature image: AI-generated illustrative cottonwood landscape; it does not depict the Lochiel tree or its removal.*