Arizona

TSMC factory construction is displacing native Arizona plants. This company saves them

Published

2 years ago

May 5, 2024

TSMC factory construction is displacing native Arizona plants. This company saves them

Maria Hollenhorst/Marketplace
“What we have been able to do with developers is make them understand that not only is there an environmental advantage to saving the trees … there’s also a monetary advantage,” says Rob Kater, owner of Native Resources.

This story originally aired on “Marketplace” on May 1.

One of the flagship projects in the U.S. government’s effort to rebuild the domestic supply chain for semiconductors lies 25 miles north of downtown Phoenix, on what was, until recently, undeveloped desert.

The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., or TSMC, first announced plans to build a chips factory in north Phoenix in May 2022 at a cost of $12 billion. In the years since the CHIPS and Science Act passed, TSMC has increased that planned investment to more than $65 billion and three factories.

But before construction began on TSMC’s 1,100 acres of desert land, the company had to deal with something else: the native plants that were there first.

“TSMC came here about three years ago, and we had daily calls to Taiwan to explain our system,” said Rob Kater, owner of Native Resources International, a plant relocation, nursery and landscape company. “It was difficult for [TSMC] to wrap their heads around why we have to save the trees.”

The Phoenix metropolitan area lies within the Sonoran Desert, which, according to the National Park Service, has more than 2,000 native plant species, including saguaro cactuses. Saguaros can live up to 200 years and are so synonymous with this area, they’re pictured on Arizona license plates.

In 1981, the city of Scottsdale passed an ordinance barring people from removing certain plants, including saguaros, without a permit. Phoenix and other surrounding cities followed suit, passing ordinances requiring developers to salvage native species and, in some cases, replant them back into the landscape.

Native plants in structures to hold them up

Maria Hollenhorst/Marketplace

The inventory on Native Resources’ 8-acre grounds include pipe organ cactuses, the tallest above, and three smaller cactuses from the senita family, which are not native to the Sonoran Desert. | Photo credit: Maria Hollenhorst

Within those local laws, Rob Kater found a niche at the intersection of conservation and development.

“We’re able to monetize the whole program of saving native materials,” he said. Native Resources helps developers inventory plants on their land, identify which need to be preserved, and then salvage, store and replant them back into the landscape once construction is finished.

Kater said the company’s largest customer is a big housing development in an area northwest of Phoenix called Vistancia.

“In the Vistancia area, we’ll be doing about [3,000] to 4,000 trees and cacti,” he said. TSMC, recipient of $6.6 billion of federal funding through the CHIPS Act, was a smaller project — about 1,000 trees.

“What we have been able to do with developers is make them understand that not only is there an environmental advantage to saving the trees … there’s also a monetary advantage,” Kater said. “We look at each and every tree as being a living statue.”

Kater said you can’t buy some of these trees in nurseries because they grow too slowly.

Native Resources pulls in $10 million in annual revenue, Kater said.

On Native Resource’s 8-acre lot in north Phoenix, Kater showed Marketplace’s Kai Ryssdal and The Washington Post’s Heather Long some of his inventory.

Maria Hollenhorst/Marketplace

Kater sells these young saguaro “spears” for about $35-$40 a foot. It can take 100 years or more for saguaros to grow an arm, he said.

“That tree is called an ironwood tree, it’s about 5 feet in diameter, and it [costs] about $8,000,” he said.

But with Phoenix’s rapid population growth, the value of land underneath those trees is going up.

“[This is] an area that 20 years ago was just a cotton farm, but now has been just fully developed,” Kater said.

Across the street from Native Resources, with its rows of ironwood trees and a small army of saguaro cactus spears, there is a Goodwill and a pet care center. Five minutes down the road, there is a big shopping center and a movie theater.

Would Kater consider selling some of his land?

“It is tempting,” he said. “We have actually lost three of our largest nurseries to development because of the numbers that were put in front of them. And that caused an incredible change in our market and our supply when these nurseries that we were all dependent upon turned over and sold to large-scale development.”

Phoenix has gained almost 200,000 new residents since 2020. Kater’s business is facilitating one small part of that change, but with the increased investment in semiconductor factories, more is coming.

“I think the idea is, if change is coming, we need to understand it and get society ready for it,” he said.

In future installments of our series “Breaking Ground,” Marketplace will also explore the implications of that change on workforce development, culture and the housing market.

Maria Hollenhorst/Marketplace
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Native Resources stores and transports trees and cactuses in large wooden boxes. Above, an ironwood, right, rests on the flatbed along with foothill palo verdes, the Arizona state tree.

Maria Hollenhorst/Marketplace
Kater points to some of his inventory, including the ironwood trees in front.
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Arizona

High pressure could bring record-setting temps to parts of Arizona

Published

3 hours ago

December 13, 2025

Press Room

High pressure could bring record-setting temps to parts of Arizona

PHOENIX (AZFamily) — A nice and cool start to our morning with lows in the upper 40s to the lower 50s with mostly clear skies.

We have a very strong ridge of high pressure that will heat things up once again.

Our average high this time of year is 66 degrees; we will be about 13 degrees above that with a high of 79 this afternoon.

The warm weather will stick around again on Sunday with a few passing clouds.

The Maricopa County Air Quality Department has declared a No-Burn Day for Saturday and Sunday due to high smoke levels.

A few areas will hit 80 degrees, which would be a new record high for tomorrow.

Up in the high country and all around the state, we will see above-average temperatures that will last into the middle of next week.

As we get closer to the big holiday next week, we are starting to see signs of a chance of rain and mountain snowfall.

We will keep you updated as we get closer.

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Arizona

Rural Arizona couple learns the hard way property has no fire protection

Published

15 hours ago

December 13, 2025

Press Room

Rural Arizona couple learns the hard way property has no fire protection

CLARKDALE, AZ (AZFamily) — A couple moving to Arizona from North Dakota learned they had no fire protection coverage when a shed fire broke out on their Mingus Mountain property, which is northeast of Prescott, this week.

Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded using fire extinguishers from their patrol cars and shoveling dirt to put out hot spots around the burning shed.

Monday’s fire was how Kevin and Sue Hoerner learned their property sits outside the jurisdiction of any city or formal fire district.

“We’re aware of that now,” Kevin Hoerner said, laughing.

The Hoerners’ property is one of thousands of so-called “no man’s land” properties across Arizona that fall outside fire district boundaries, according to state forestry officials.

“We are looking into this right now. There’s about 13,000 properties just in Yavapai County,” said Tiffany Davila with the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management.

The couple said they had no idea their property lacked fire protection when they purchased it.

“Either someone didn’t tell me or I didn’t even think to ask such a question,” Kevin Hoerner said. “I’ll tell you, in North Dakota, there is no such thing.”

Property owners in these areas may be eligible to annex into a nearby fire district or purchase a fire protection agreement with another provider.

The Hoerners said exploring those options is next on their list. They don’t blame anyone but themselves for the situation.

“It’s just something that now we know,” Sue Hoerner said.

The shed fire resulted in a $30,000-50,000 loss, destroying propane tanks, lithium batteries for solar power and a generator. The couple said they are thankful the fire didn’t spread to the forest or neighboring properties.

They set up a GoFundMe page to help Kevin rebuild his workshop.

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Arizona

Know Your Foe: Arizona Cardinals | Week 15

Published

1 day ago

December 12, 2025

Press Room

Know Your Foe: Arizona Cardinals | Week 15

Two years ago, the Arizona Cardinals arrived in Houston ready to spoil what had been a magical run to that point for the Houston Texans. QB Kyler Murray had the ball in his hands, down by five, driving for the potentially game winning touchdown. But, the Texans defense, as it has done many times before and since, held tight and kept Cardinals at bay for a hard fought 21-16 win

But, in that game, the Cardinals had Pro Bowl RB James Conner, WR Marquise “Hollywood” Brown and Murray in the lineup. They will have neither of those three in this contest, but they will have QB Jacoby Brissett slinging the rock all over NRG Stadium.

Brissett is 5-1 against the Texans in his career and he’s beaten the Texans, as the starter, with three different teams. With a Cardinals win, he’d match Sam Darnold, who beat the Texans earlier this year as the starter for Seattle, his fourth team to beat the Texans. But, that one in the left hand column for Brissett was a Texans win over the Colts on Thursday Night Football six years ago and here’s hoping it turns into a two late Sunday afternoon.

Coming up with win number nine won’t be easy facing one of the Texans’ biggest villains, who has one of the best pass catchers in the entire NFL – TE Trey McBride – on his side.

So, before Sunday arrives, let’s get to Know the Texans’ Week 15 Foe – The Arizona Cardinals.

2025 Arizona Cardinals Schedule (3-10)

Week 1 – W @ New Orleans Saints 20-13
Week 2 – W Carolina Panthers 27-22
Week 3 – L @ San Francisco 49ers 16-15
Week 4 – L Seattle Seahawks 23-20
Week 5 – L Tennessee Titans 22-21
Week 6 – L @ Indianapolis Colts 31-27
Week 7 – L Green Bay Packers 27-23
Week 8 – BYE WEEK
Week 9 – W @ Dallas Cowboys 27-17
Week 10 – L @ Seattle Seahawks 44-22
Week 11 – L San Francisco 49ers 41-22
Week 12 – L Jacksonville Jaguars 27-24
Week 13 – L @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers 20-17
Week 14 – L Los Angeles Rams 45-17
Week 15 – @ Houston Texans
Week 16 – Atlanta Falcons
Week 17 – @ Cincinnati Bengals
Week 18 – @ Los Angeles Rams

Cardinals OFFENSE (in 2025 regular season)

Rushing Yards Per game – 96.8 ypg (26th in the NFL)
Passing Yards Per game – 238.7 ypg (7th)
Total offense per game – 335.5 ypg (18th)
Turnovers lost – 16 (8 INT, 8 Fumbles lost)

Expected Cardinals starting offense for Week 15

QB – JACOBY BRISSETT
RB – BAM KNIGHT
WR – Michael Wilson
WR – Andre Baccellia
WR – Greg Dortch
TE – Elijah Higgins
TE – Trey McBride
LT – JOSH FRYAR or DEMONTREY JACOBS
LG – Evan Brown (injured) or Jon Gaines
C – Hjalte Froholdt
RG – Isaiah Adams
RT – Kelvin Beachum

Other Key Offensive pieces

QB – KEDON SLOVIS
RB – Michael Carter
WR – TRENT SHERFIELD (PS elevation last week)
TE – PHARAOH BROWN

ALL CAPS – New to team in 2025

Keys to winning v. the Cardinals Offense

The Nemesis – During a Sunday game in Foxboro, MA on week two in 2016, yes, nine years ago, starting Patriots QB Jimmy Garoppolo left the game injured against the Miami Dolphins. Up next on the horizon for the Patriots, sans Tom Brady, was a visit from the 2-0 hot Houston Texans. However, Brady was suspended and Garoppolo was injured. I was convinced that was the night that the Texans would finally win in Foxboro. I mean, what…is rookie Jacoby Brissett going to beat us? YEP! Beating the Texans is exactly what he did that night and he’s done it four other times with two other teams over his long and illustrious career. In Arizona, earlier this year, he gave the Cardinals life when Kyler Murray was injured and the grizzled veteran is probably throwing the ball as well as he has at any point in his career. The Texans aren’t, more than likely, going to give up a designed run for a TD as they did in that 2016 game, but they also COULD get shredded through the air because of Brissett’s big arm and high football IQ.

The Emergence Continues – When Cardinals TE Trey McBride entered the draft in 2022, he was my highest rated TE in that group. But, after 16 games, 13 games as a starter, as a rookie, he was only targeted 39 times. Fast forward to his second season and his targets climbed to 106. Last year, he was targeted a whopping 147 times and is averaging even more targets per game than last year in 2025. But, what McBride is doing this year that he didn’t last year? Scoring TDs. He found his way into the end zone EIGHT times this year. He’s so good after the catch and he has vice grips for hands. He’s such a difficult cover because of his strength and ability to get into open areas. Last week at Kansas City, the Texans held future Hall of Famer Travis Kelce to one catch and did so with a litany of coverage options on him throughout the game. McBride demands a similar coverage scheme this week if the Texans defense wants to have success. IF the Texans hold McBride to one catch, they’ll win this one going away. I don’t expect that, but the Texans must limit his impact greatly.

Mike Willie! – Cardinals WR Michael Wilson was one of the more intriguing draft prospects that I studied a few years ago out of Stanford. He only played 14 games over his final three years in college, including just six games in his senior campaign. But, when I saw him in person at that year’s Senior Bowl, I was highly impressed. Strong hands. Physical. Excellent route runner. I remember thinking that he was going to make a really solid #3 or even a low level #2. But, he’s become a stud #1 wide receiver option in the passing game in Arizona, whether Marvin Harrison Jr is on the field or not. He has a great rapport with Brissett, so backshoulder fades, timing throws and deep shots are in play when Wilson is on the field. Harrison Jr. has been banged up, but even before he missed games, Wilson was the guy that Brissett targeted in the passing game. This Texans secondary will get tested by one heck of a competitor.

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