O'odham Ancestral Land Being Stripped Bare at Sacred Quitobaquito Springs for Second Border Wall

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Bulldozers scrape the sweet earth bare today near O'odham's Sacred Quitobaquito Springs. Video by Russ McSpadden.

O'odham Ancestral Land Being Stripped Bare at Sacred Quitobaquito Springs for Second Border Wall

Article by Brenda Norrell, Censored News, August 18, 2026

QUITOBAQUITO SPRINGS, Arizona -- The ancestral land of O'odham is being stripped bare near Sacred Quitobaquito Springs, home to pupfish, snails and turtles found nowhere else in the world, except here in the fragile Sonoran Desert. 

Quitobaquito Springs is a place of prayer and ceremony for O'odham. The federal government is destroying this land for a second border wall, that is being protested here on the Arizona border, and from California to Texas.

The roads are closed, but Russ McSpadden hiked into the area Monday and found the destruction underway at Organ Pipe National Monument.

Mediocre Border Wall Report Minimizes U.S. Government Violence and Destruction

An image you will not see in the U.S. government's new border wall construction report: Wildlife halted during migrations by the border wall. Congressman Grijalva calls the border wall a racist stunt and  "symbolic message of  hate." (Image: Skye Islands video/screenshot Censored News)

Mediocre Border Wall Report Minimizes U.S. Government Violence and Destruction

By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, September 8, 2023

A new U.S. report on the border wall construction minimizes the violence and destruction by the U.S. government. The U.S. blew up Tohono O'odham and Apache burial places with dynamite, killed saguaro cacti, destroyed migration paths of endangered species, violated precious water, destroyed sacred sites, and scraped the fragile Sonoran Desert and border ecosystems.

The border report attempts to excuse the United States' failed consultation with Tohono O'odham and Pascua Yaqui Nations, attempts to excuse the waiver and violation of all federal laws, and does not include the U.S. government's own agents' involvement with illegal drug and weapons running across the border.

The 72-page report, released on Thursday, by the Government Accountability Office assessed the destruction caused by building the border wall, from 2017 -- 2021. Although it is defined as an independent government office -- in reality, it is the government reporting on itself. Another fox in the henhouse.

The report states an emergency national security action was used to redirect U.S. military funding to build the border wall -- but it fails to point out that large numbers of U.S. Border Patrol and ICE agents have been arrested for drug running and spotting for the cartels. The report does not include the U.S. government's covert operations known as "gun-walking" across the border which supplies automatic weapons to the cartels in failed attempts to track automatic weapons to the cartels.

Red Lake Treaty Camp -- Enbridge pipeline destroying endangered species area

Red Lake Treaty Camp screen capture Censored News

Red Lake Treaty Camp -- Enbridge pipeline destroying endangered species area

By Brenda Norrell

Censored News

Videos by Govinda 

MINNESOTA -- Red Lake Treaty Camp shares their victory today, as Enbridge pipeline began destroying an area of endangered species.

"We had a small but momentous victory here at camp," Red Lake Treaty Camp said.

"Today we shut down construction by exposing they were violating Endangered Species Act by not having a tribal monitor present during a ground disturbance."

"So no work should resume in the area until a proper monitor is present and accessible to us as all times."

"Thanks to council members and our lawyer acting quickly on these observances. We are here and we are watching and we will hold them accountable to their own actions today they were willing to break Endangered species protection laws to hurry up and bury a pipe."

"It goes to show how much they care about the environment. Thank you to all who heard the call. For today, we did a job well done."

Earlier today, Red Lake Treaty Camp, in Minnesota, asked others to come out and stand with them.

Enbridge is destroying the land today where there are eight endangered species. Enbridge is working in violation of the requirement to have a tribal monitor present.

"Red Lake Treaty Camp is calling for urgent help. They woke up to movement as their digging getting closer to the river," Red Lake Treaty Camp said.

“We need people to Red Lake Camp. The equipment they moved yesterday is now moving and working on the side near the river. We need water protectors to come stand in solidarity with us to protect the water and our treaties.” 

Riverside Thief River Falls,  best GPS coordinates to follow on maps: 11750 MN-32, Thief River Falls, MN 56701.

GPS:

Red Lake Treaty Camp

Live coverage by Govinda

.Live video coverage

Arizona border wall contractor's parent company is among most polluting companies destroying the planet

Saguaro cactus bulldozed by Southwest Valley Constructors near Ajo, Arizona, for illegal U.S. border wall.

Arizona border wall contractor's parent company is among most polluting companies destroying the planet 

Border wall contractor linked to Keystone Pipeline and Alberta Tar Sands

By Brenda Norrell

Censored News
French translation by Christine Prat

AJO, Arizona -- The parent company of Southwest Valley Constructors -- now building the border wall, violating all federal protection laws, destroying endangered species and bulldozing the pristine Sonoran Desert --  is a global mining and construction corporation that is one of the most polluting companies in the world.

Southwest's parent company Kiewit, based in Omaha, Nebraska, is listed as one of the top 32 North American polluters killing the planet.

The border wall contractor, Southwest Valley Constructors  based in Albuquerque, is now violating all federal protection laws created to protect endangered species, water and sacred sites, as it builds an illegal border wall based on political ruin, xenophobia and the collapse of the US government.

The endangered pupfish is found nowhere else in the world but here near Ajo in a spring sacred to Tohono O'odham.

Nearby, the migration paths of endangered jaguar and pronghorn antelope are being destroyed.

Protected saguaros are being ripped from the earth with disregard for state or federal laws.

The federal government has waived 41 federal laws that protect life as it builds the border wall.

In its lawsuit, the Center for Biological Diversity points out the damage to human rights, as the pristine desert borderzone is turned into a militarized zone.

"Beyond jeopardizing wildlife, endangered species and public lands, the U.S.-Mexico border wall is part of a larger strategy of ongoing border militarization that damages human rights, civil liberties, native lands, local businesses and international relations. The border wall impedes the natural migrations of people and wildlife that are essential to healthy diversity," the Center said.

Southwest Valley Constructors received $646 million in U.S. Army funds for border wall work in the contract from the U.S. Defense Department, with the Army Corps of Engineers in Albuquerque operating the contract. The use of U.S. military funds to build the border wall is the subject of numerous ongoing lawsuits.

Kiewit was also awarded a border wall contract in Texas, along the Rio Grande. "The $42.8 million contract was awarded to Kiewit Infrastructure West Co. The project, according to CBP, includes the construction of "18-30 foot tall steel bollards, in addition to road construction, detection technology and lighting installation," CNN reported.

Kiewit's projects around the world polluting the planet include construction for Suncor's tar sands in Alberta, Canada; mining nickel in Quebec; mining diamonds in Yellowknife, NWT; mining iron ore in Western Australia; mining coal in Wyoming; mining phosphates in Idaho; lignite mining in Texas; and nickel mining in Voisey's Bay, NF., according to its website.

Keystone Pipeline is among Kiewit's construction projects, which include oil, gas and oil sands construction projects elsewhere in Canada, North Dakota, Texas and Western Australia.

In North America, Houston and Calgary are the top cities where corporations are killing the planet, primarily with oil and gas and tar sands industries. In 2017, Kiewit received a contract from Houston-based Wood Group Mustang to build Israel's Leviathan offshore gas field platform.

The border wall construction in violation of federal protection laws is part of a greater scheme of the U.S. government that is now violating international laws which protect migrant children, including the genocidal act of separating children from their parents and disappearing the children.

Migrant children are being imprisoned in US death camps where they are being sexually abused and dying of neglect and preventable infections, according to documented cases of migrant child deaths.

The United States now leads the world in the widespread disregard for human life and the Earth.

Read more about top corporations killing the planet:

https://decolonialatlas.wordpress.com/2019/04/27/names-and-locations-of-the-top-100-people-killing-the-planet/

Copyright Brenda Norrell, Censored News

Tohono O'odham Protest Against Border Wall and Israeli Spy Towers on Arizona Border

Tohono O'odham protested the border wall being constructed in the
fragile Sonoran Desert on Saturday, and the Israeli spy towers now
targeting the Tohono O'odham Naiton.
Photos copyright Ofelia Rivas.

(Photo above) U.S. military surveillance helicopter
over Gu-Vo community this morning on Tohono O'odham Nation. Below: in Gu-Vo community today.

Trump's Border Wall is Death to Endangered Species and Sacred Places

Photos by Ofelia Rivas, Tohono O'odham
Article by Brenda Norrell
Censored News copyright
Sat., Aug. 31, 2019

AJO, Arizona -- As Trump's bulldozers destroy the pristine Sonoran Desert at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument nearby, Tohono O'odham and Arizona residents are protesting the inhumane destruction.

Ofelia Rivas, Tohono O'odham who lives on the border, told Censored News, "Beautiful day in the O'odham homeland, united group of people came to be a voice for the lands and  nature against genocidal policies of an inhumane government system attacking all life."
"The Society of these stolen lands should legally charge these inhumane crimes against this disgraceful person."
"The group will continue to be a voice for the honor of the bees, the endangered sacred animals, plants and the entire land and people," Rivas said.

All endangered species laws and all laws protecting sacred Native American places have been smashed. The border wall construction is already using a vast amount of water in the desert here for concrete.
These defenders are also protesting the Israeli spy towers now targeting the Tohono O'odham Nation. The Israeli defense contractor Elbit Systems plans to construct these spy towers and destroy sacred burial places and ceremonial places on the Tohono O'odham Nation. The tribal government approved these spy towers in March, but Gu-Vo District continues to oppose this oppression and destruction. Elbit already carries out Apartheid security in Palestine.

Ofelia Rivas is the founder of O'odham Voice against the Wall, and has spent her life battling the abuses of the U.S. Border Patrol. Ofelia lives on the border on the Tohono O'odham Nation and is a voice for human rights.
Donate to Ofelia on her website, for gas funds for her work, at:
http://tiamatpublications.com/

Photos copyright Ofelia Rivas, Tohono O'odham.
Censored News
May not be used without permission.

More: Trump's bulldozers destroying the pristine Sonoran Desert and Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument! Photos and video:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2019/08/trumps-monster-bulldozers-now-ripping.html

Quitobaquito Springs -- Border Wall Construction Destroying Sacred and Fragile Sonoran Desert Ecosystem

Photos above copyright by the photographer

 Quitobaquito Springs

              By Brenda Norrell
               Censored News

Quitobaquito is a rare oasis in the desert that supplies life-sustaining water to many animal species, as shown here. This Sonoyta mud turtle is found nowhere else in the world. Nearby, as shown below, border wall construction has already started near Lukeville, Arizona.
Trump is using diverted military funds to build this monster, the border wall, and has eliminated all laws protecting endangered and sacred places and species. In this fragile Sonoran Desert, it is a crime against nature, a crime against all life forms.
These expensive pieces of a border wall -- between the long border stretch from east Texas to the California coast -- are targeting the most fragile regions, and will only serve to push migrants into more deadly zones. Instead of halting immigration, these pieces of the border wall will be no more than a symbol of white nationalism and destruction.
Ofelia Rivas, Tohono O'odham who lives on the border nearby on the Tohono O'odham Nation, asked, "Where are the Water Protectors?"
"Sources say each foot of border wall will require 2 cubic yards of concrete. A yard of the concrete takes 39 gallons of water. This means each mile of wall = 411,840 gallons of water," Rivas told Censored News.
As the monster construction is ongoing nearby, the photographer, a border resident, explained that the border vehicle barrier, shown in the top photo, is already in place and the enormous wall is not needed here, in this fragile zone.
"The vehicle barrier seen in the background allows wildlife to move freely across the southern border in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. It keeps vehicles from driving across the border that could be very damaging to the sensitive environment."
Arizona Republic Raphael Carranza photos below: Trump uses diverted military funds to build border wall near Lukeville, Arizona, this week.

SAVING THE SONOYTA MUD TURTLE
The Center for Biological Diversity said, "The Sonoyta mud turtle has evolved as an aquatic species in one of the driest parts of the Sonoran Desert. With webbed feet and an innate ability to swim, this turtle depends heavily on what little water remains in the Southwest. The easiest way to identify a Sonoyta mud turtle is by its location since it's the only turtle inhabiting its very small range. The U.S. population has been reduced to a single reservoir within the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, named Quitobaquito Springs. In Mexico, these turtles inhabit a couple of small, still-flowing sections of the Rio Sonoyta."
Among the rare creatures found at Quiobaquito Springs is the endangered pupfish.
"The largest body of water at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument is Quitobaquito springs and pond, home to the Quitobaquito pupfish," writes Wild Sonora.
"The cultural significance of the Quitobaquito area dates to approximately 11,000 B.P. (before present)."The pond is the home of the Quitobaquito spring snail, the Sonoyta mud turtle, and the desert caper plant. This is the only spot in the United States where these species can be found naturally occurring," the National Park Service said.
"The desert caper supports the caper butterfly (ascia Howarthi) that is only found coexisting with the plant. The Quitobaquito spring snails are so small that they are hard to find."
"You can sometimes spot the snail, about the size of a grain of black pepper, in the spring-fed streams serving the pond. Quitobaquito is also the only place where the Sonoyta mud turtle is found in the United States and has been deemed a candidate for protection under the Endangered Species Act."

Call and/or write your Congressional Representatives and Senators and ask them
1. To stop the funding for this wall.
2. To repeal section 102 of the Real ID Act that dismisses decades of protective environmental, public health, and safety laws passed by congress.
FYI - Section 102 of the Real ID Act of 2005 waives 28 environmental and other laws (listed below) during a national emergency or under a threat of a terrorist attack. Since #45 declared an emergency at the border in order to get funding for the wall, the builders do not have to abide by laws that are required by all other types of construction.
Laws waived...

1)The National Environmental Policy Act

2)The Endangered Species Act

3)The Clean Water Act

4)The National Historic Preservation Act

5)The Migratory Bird Treaty Act

6)The Migratory Bird Conservation Act

7)The Clean Air Act

8)The Archeological Resources Protection Act

9)The Paleontological Resources Preservation Act

10)The Federal Cave Resources Protection Act

11)The Safe Drinking Water Act

12)The Noise Control Act

13)The Solid Waste Disposal Act

14)The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act

15)The Archaeological and Historic Preservation Act

16)The Antiquities Act

17)The Historic Sites, Buildings, and Antiquities Act

18)The Farmland Protection Policy Act

19)The Coastal Zone Management Act

20)The Federal Land Policy and Management Act

21)The National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act

22)The National Fish and Wildlife Act

23)The Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act

24)The Administrative Procedure Act

25)The River and Harbors Act

26)The Eagle Protection Act

27)The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act

28The American Indian Religious Freedom Act



Organ Pipe nature photos: copyright by photographer, published with permission at Censored News

Monsters Arrive to Destroy Sonoran Desert for Border Wall -- Trucks Arrive for Organ Pipe Destruction in Arizona

Trump quickly gave the border wall contract at Organ Pipe to
Southwest Valley Contractors of New Mexico, who arrived this week
to begin the destruction of the fragile Sonoran Desert.

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Construction vehicles and staged panels for the border wall along a two-mile stretch of the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, near Lukeville, Arizona about 110 miles southwest of Tucson, Aug. 20.
Photos above and below provided to Tucson Sentinel.

Trump's Grotesque Behavior Now Has Border Wildlife and Endangered Species in Imminent Danger

Article by Brenda Norrell
Censored News
Updated Wednesday

LUKEVILLE, Arizona -- The trucks arrived to destroy the pristine Sonoran Desert at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument to build Trump's border wall.
Trump quickly gave the $646 million contract to Southwest Valley Constructors, a company in New Mexico.
All laws protecting the wild things and endangered species have been smashed. The area is adjacent to the western side of the Tohono O'odham Nation and near Ajo, Arizona.
The Tucson Sentinel reported today of the work that has started and the concern for Organ Pipe Cactus National  Monument, located west of Lukeville, Arizona.
Laiken Jordahl, a spokesman for the Center for Biological Diversity, said that there was also heavy construction machinery near Quitobaquito Spring, a natural spring in Organ Pipe that is home to a few unique species, and that this was "extremely concerning."

Sonoyta mud turtle

The endangered pupfish has no one to protect it.

Organ Pipe area has a cultural history of at least 11,000 years.

Among the rare creatures found here is the endangered pupfish.

"The largest body of water at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument is Quitobaquito springs and pond, home to the Quitobaquito pupfish," writes Wild Sonora.

"The cultural significance of the Quitobaquito area dates to approximately 11,000 B.P. (before present)."The pond is the home of the Quitobaquito spring snail, the Sonoyta mud turtle and the desert caper plant.This is the only spot in the United States where these species can be found naturally occurring," the National Park Service said.

"The desert caper supports the caper butterfly (ascia Howarthi) that is only found coexisting with the plant. The Quitobaquito spring snails are so small that they are hard to find."

"You can sometimes spot the snail, about the size of a grain of black pepper, in the spring-fed streams serving the pond. Quitobaquito is also the only place where the Sonoyta mud turtle is found in the United States and has been deemed a candidate for protection under the Endangered Species Act."

Phoenix New Times reports, "When the Department of Homeland Security announced in May that it planned to build the wall, it offered few details other than that it would be a wall of concrete-filled steel bollard, 18 to 30 feet high and four inches apart. The bollards would sit atop a cement foundation about 10 feet deep and eight inches to a foot wide.
"It gave other agencies and individuals until July 5 to submit public comments on its vague plans, but nevertheless awarded a $646 million contract to Southwest Valley Constructors, a New Mexican company, in mid-May to build the wall. Jordahl took this timing as a sign that the department had no plans to consider the comments anyway."
Tucson Sentinel reports that on May 15, the Defense Department officials also announced that BFBC LLC, out of Bozeman, Montana would receive more than $141 million to design and build similar projects in the El Centro Sector near El Centro, California, and in the Yuma Sector, which straddles the Colorado River and includes parts of California and Yuma County.
The project is expected to be completed by Jan. 31, 2020. 
Border wall construction is also underway farther to the west on the Arizona border, near the California border in Yuma, Arizona. This construction targets the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge.
At Cabeza Prieta, the endangered Sonoran Pronghorn migrate from Arizona to Sonora, Mexico. The proposed border wall will halt its migrations. Already, the Pronghorn are bombed at the Goldwater Bombing Range and few have survived.
In southern Arizona, three jaguars have been spotted and identified, and the border wall construction will destroy their remote and wild habitat.
The border wall construction proposed is only pieces of a border wall between California and Texas, and will cause irreparable harm to endangered species in the fragile Sonoran Desert.
The Center for Biological Diversity in Tucson has filed an injunction to halt the work and destruction.

Injunction Sought to Halt Trump’s Wall in Arizona

Bulldozers Aimed at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, San Pedro River

By Center for Biological Diversity

WASHINGTON— Conservation groups today asked a federal court to block construction of President Donald Trump’s border wall through protected wilderness in Arizona until a judge rules on a pending lawsuit.
Today’s motion for a preliminary injunction, filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., involves the groups’ July lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s waiver of dozens of environmental and public health laws to speed border-wall construction in Arizona.
“It’s senseless to let bulldozers rip a permanent scar through our borderlands’ wildlife refuges and national monuments before the court decides whether the waiver is legal,” said Jean Su, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity.
“Trump’s ignoring laws and diverting funds to build this destructive border wall. His grotesque barrier would destroy some of the border’s most spectacular and biologically diverse places. We’ll do everything in our power to stop that.”
If the preliminary injunction is granted, wall construction would be blocked until U.S. District Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson rules on the merits of the underlying lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s waiver authority.
A recent Supreme Court ruling lifted an injunction in a separate case involving Trump’s use of military funds to build the border wall, allowing construction to proceed in Arizona, Texas, and California. Without action from Judge Jackson, wall construction in Arizona could begin later this month.
“Every American should be outraged that the border wall in Arizona will be built across some of our most iconic national wildlife refuges and national parklands,” said Bryan Bird, the southwest representative for Defenders of Wildlife. “If the wall is constructed through these spectacular landscapes it will disrupt migration for animals like the Mexican gray wolf, the jaguar, the Sonoran pronghorn, and the bighorn sheep. It will tear through lands so precious that Congress chose to protect them for all American’s posterity and enjoyment. Defenders will continue to fight to stop this abuse.”
The lawsuit says the Department of Homeland Security lacks authority to waive the Endangered Species Act, National Environmental Policy Act and other laws that protect clean air, clean water, public lands and wildlife in the borderlands.
The department wants to sweep aside these laws to speed construction of border walls through the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area, Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge, San Bernardino National Wildlife Refuge, Coronado National Memorial and numerous designated wilderness areas. The bollard-style barriers will block wildlife migration, damage ecosystems and harm border communities.
“These most recent waivers of vital environmental and animal-protection laws demonstrate the administration’s continued disregard for wildlife, including the most fragile species that could be pushed to extinction by these projects,” said Animal Legal Defense Fund Executive Director Stephen Wells. “Building a wall that cuts through the heart of vital federally protected forests, wildlife refuges and conservation areas will have devastating effects on these critical areas and the wildlife that calls these areas their home, which is why we are asking the court to immediately enjoin these border wall-related projects.”
The Center and allies have sued to challenge Trump’s emergency declaration, which would fund this border-wall construction. The Center’s first border-related lawsuit ― filed in 2017 in U.S. District Court in Tucson with U.S. Rep. Raúl Grijalva ― seeks to require the Trump administration to do a detailed analysis of the environmental impacts of its border-enforcement program. All of these suits are pending.
A 2017 study by the Center identified more than 90 endangered or threatened species that would be threatened by wall construction along the 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border.
Beyond jeopardizing wildlife, endangered species and public lands, the U.S.-Mexico border wall is part of a larger strategy of ongoing border militarization that damages human rights, civil liberties, native lands, local businesses and international relations. The border wall impedes the natural migrations of people and wildlife that are essential to healthy diversity.

August 6, 2019

Contact:

Jean Su, Center for Biological Diversity, (415) 770-3187, jsu@biologicaldiversity.org Jake Bleich, Defenders of Wildlife, (202) 772-3208, jbleich@defenders.org Natalia Lima, Animal Legal Defense Fund, (201) 679-7088, nlima@aldf.org

Study: Trump's Border Wall Threatens 93 Endangered Species

Jaguars, Wolves, Owls Among Those in Harm's Way

By Center for Biological Diversity

TUCSON, Ariz.— President Trump's border wall threatens 93 endangered and threatened species, including jaguars, ocelots, Mexican gray wolves and cactus ferruginous pygmy owls, according to a new study by the Center for Biological Diversity.

The study also found that 25 threatened or endangered species have designated “critical habitat” on the border, including more than 2 million acres within 50 miles of the border.

“Trump's border wall is a disaster for people and wildlife alike,” said Noah Greenwald, endangered species director at the Center. “It could drive magnificent species like the jaguar and ocelot to extinction in the United States.”

The new study identified all threatened, endangered and “candidate” species (those being considered for protection) that have ranges near or crossing the border. These include 57 endangered species, 24 threatened species, 10 species under consideration for protection and two species of concern, golden and bald eagles. Construction of Trump's 1,200-mile wall — along with related infrastructure and enforcement — will have far-reaching consequences for wildlife, including cutting off migration corridors, reducing genetic diversity, destroying habitat, and adding vehicles, noise and lights to vast stretches of the wild borderlands.

“The border wall won't be effective at stopping people seeking a better life from getting to this country, but it will destroy habitat and divide wildlife populations,” Greenwald said. “Building a wall across the entirety of the border would cause massive damage to one of the most biologically diverse regions in North America and would be a boondoggle of the highest order.”

The sections of the border wall that have already been built have had a range of negative effects on wildlife, including direct destruction of thousands of acres of habitat, indirect impacts from noise and light pollution, and division of cross-border wildlife populations like bighorn sheep and jaguars. The border wall would cut through the Cabeza Prieta, Buenos Aires, and several other national wildlife refuges, along with Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Big Bend National Park and many other natural areas that, besides acting as corridors for wildlife, are national treasures.

Last month the Center and Congressman Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.), the ranking member of the House Committee on Natural Resources, sued the Trump administration over the proposed border wall and other border security measures, calling on federal agencies to conduct an in-depth investigation of the proposal's environmental impacts.

The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona, is the first targeting the Trump administration's plan to vastly expand and militarize the U.S.-Mexico border, including the construction of a “great wall.”

Three wild jaguars have been spotted in southern Arizona and this is one of them. The endangered jaguar, once protected by the U.S. Endangered Species Act, has no one to protect it, as Trump slashes all protections to build a border wall as a symbol of white nationalism and hate.

The Fastest Land Mammal in North America
The endangered Sonoran Pronghorn migrate across the so-called border between Arizona and Sonora, Mexico. Now, Trump's border wall could halt their migrations. The Pronghorn have already been bombed in the Goldwater Bombing Range. Few Pronghorn have survived.

The Sonoran Desert Bighorn Sheep is one of the most majestic creatures. Its habitat is now being destroyed by a madman intent on building pieces of a border wall as a symbol of xenophobia and white nationalism in the U.S.

Article copyright Brenda Norrell, Censored News

Dakota Access Pipeline Environmental Assessment Failed to List Endangered Butterfly

Stopping the pipeline, Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL), that is. 

Environmental Assessment left out endangered Poweshiek Skipperling

By Renee Matlock

Censored News copyright

I am, first and foremost a mother.   I am also an Environmental Engineer.   I hold college degrees in Communications, Environmental Science, Engineering and Environmental Engineering.   When I see my social media being flooded with outrage over a particular environmental issue, I pay attention.  I, and about a dozen other, mostly Lakota, friends have spent a significant amount of time over the last few days researching, reading Environmental Assessments, investigating people and generally looking into the DAPL and going over information with the proverbial “fine-toothed comb” looking for a chink in the armor of DAPL.   Earlier this evening I found “it” – the “thing” I was looking for – the “thing” that could have a federal court issuing a stop work order.