Imagine a backhoe knocking over this saguaro because it's too big to transplant. That could happen. This and other giants lie in the 2000' wide corridor somewhere within which the 400 foot wide roadway for Interstate 11 will be carved.
Old growth woodlands come in many forms. The trees don't have to be big. Mesquites growing in relatively moist soil like that in the Brawley Wash next to Avra Valley Road live more than a hundred years and offer typical old growth benefits such as abundant food for wildlife, lots of shady spaces to nest and perch, and a special quiet that occurs only among old trees. But this venerable oasis may be doomed if ADOT follows through with it's proposal to build Interstate 11.
A mesquite bosque can be a monotonous place of cracked earth and untidy trees. But it provides vital shade and food for wildlife, and a welcome swath of desert green. The Brawley Wash just south of Avra Valley Road is such a place. But it could be destroyed if ADOT builds Interstate 11 on its preferred route. They'll likely bulldoze a new wash bed to divert the storm water. But that won't replace the shelter and nutritious seed pods lost with the old bosque mesquites.
