Ongoing drought is killing juniper trees across Arizona
Drying juniper berries litter the ground as Rusine Stanley plunges a water hose into empty tanks in her backyard. As bubbles begin to gurgle, each tank fills to the brim. … Brittle branches break at the touch as Stanley runs her hand through a juniper tree on her 10-acre property. Its needle-like leaves are yellowing, each more than the last. This backyard is a microcosm for a phenomenon that silviculturists and researchers are tracking across northern and central Arizona, where the Southwest’s relentless drought is killing juniper trees across thousands of acres.