US Wildlife officials announced on Wednesday, Dec. 14, that a Nevada wildflower is officially endangered. The flower is located on a high-desert ridge where a lithium mine is proposed to help meet the soaring demand for batteries for electric vehicles, according to a report by AP.
The formal listing of Tiehm's buckwheat by the Fish and Wildlife Service, along with the identification of 910 acres (368 hectares) of the plant's vital habitat, presents another obstacle to the US's green energy plans.
The service concluded that Tiehm's buckwheat is in danger of going extinct with only about 16,000 plants left.
(Photo : Artur Pawlak/ Pixabay)
Endangered Flower
The greatest threat to the flower comes from the planned mining and resource exploration in the area. Livestock grazing, invasive plants, climate change, and other factors could also contribute harm to the plant's endangered population, according to the service.
According to Patrick Donnelly, the Center for Biological Diversity's director for the Great Basin, lithium is a crucial component of the transition to renewable energy sources, but it cannot come at the expense of the plant's extinction.
The organization filed a petition for the listing in 2019 and filed a lawsuit last year to hasten the plant's protection.
Endangered Species Act
The Australian mining company Ioneer claims it has created a protection plan to ensure that the plant's survival is not compromised by the project. Ioneer has been seeking for years to mine for lithium where the flower grows on federal territory midway between Reno and Las Vegas.
However, AP notes that the mine now faces its strictest regulatory requirement to date as a result of its classification under the Endangered Species Act.
The mining business claimed that the decision meets Ioneer's expectations for the construction of the mine site at Rhyolite Ridge in the Silver Peak Range, west of Tonopah, close to the California state line. On Thursday, the Federal Register will publish the service's final listing rule.
The conservationists who filed a lawsuit to defend the plant maintain that Ioneer's mitigation plan won't hold up in court. They promise to pick up where they left off in court if necessary to defend the buckwheat's habitat.
The plants only cover a total of 10 acres (4 hectares), or about 3 square miles (7.8 square kilometers). Federal officials are prohibited from approving any action that may destroy, modify, or adversely affect any listed species' essential habitat on federal property, as per AP's report.
According to Donnelly, the first phase of the mine's operations plan calls for avoiding a "tiny island of land" that is home to 75% of its population and is bordered by an open pit mine and tailings dumps that are less than 12 feet (3.7 meters) from the flowers.
The effects of Ioneer's most recent activities and protection strategies are currently being examined by the Bureau of Land Management.
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