Batteries vs. Species: Nevada Wildflower Growing Only Lithium Mine Site Declared Endangered

On a high-desert ridge, a lithium mine site is planned to help meet the rising demand for electric car batteries. A Nevada wildflower, which only grows on the very same site, was officially listed as endangered on Wednesday, according to US wildlife officials. Now there seems to be a battle of priorities between batteries as an alternative energy source and saving a species from extinction.

The Tiehm's buckwheat's official listing by the Fish and Wildlife Service and the designation of 910 acres as critical habitat for the 6-inch-tall, yellow-blooming plant raises yet another potential obstacle for President Joe Biden's "green energy" agenda.

Why "Endangered?"

The service concluded that Tiehm's buckwheat is in danger of going extinct with only about 16,000 plants thought to be left.

Because the threats are severe and immediate and Tiehm's buckwheat is in immediate danger of extinction rather than being likely to become endangered in the future, the agency finds that a threatened species status is inappropriate.

The biggest danger to the flower is the proposed mineral and mining exploration. According to the service, it is also endangered by the construction of roads, rodents that eat it, livestock grazing, invasive plants, and climate change. It claimed that in 2020, an apparent, unheard-of rodent attack wiped out roughly 60% of its estimated population, KXAN reports.

Ioneer's Protection Plan

The Australian mining company Ioneer claims it has created a protection plan which might allow the plant and the mining project to coexist. Ioneer has been planning for years to mine for lithium n the mineral-rich site where the flower thrives on the federal land midway between Reno and Las Vegas.

The center filed a lawsuit last year to hasten the protection of the plant and requested the listing in 2019. The decision, according to the mining company, adds to the path's clarity and fully satisfies Ioneer's expectations for the development of the mine site in the Silver Peak Range and at the Rhyolite Ridge, west of Tonopah and close to the California border.

The final listing rule for the service will be released in the Federal Register on Thursday. The environmentalists who filed a lawsuit to protect the plant maintain that Ioneer's risk management 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 against the rush to exploit fresh lithium deposits, ABC News reports.

Tiehm's Buckwheat and Ioneer's Buckwheat Island

Just 10 acres, or roughly 3 square miles, are dedicated to the flowers. On federal lands, federal agencies are not allowed to approve any activity that might ruin, alter, or negatively impact the vital habitat of any listed species.

According to Donnelly, the company's most recent operations plan for the mine's first phase suggests avoiding a "tiny island of land" that contains 75% of its population and is surrounded by an open pit mine as well as tailings dumps that are less than 12 feet from the flowers.

The effects of Ioneer's most recent operations and protection plans on the environment are being examined by the Bureau of Land Management.

However, Donnelley pointed out that according to USFWS's estimate in Wednesday's final listing rule, the scenario under consideration would disturb and eliminate up to 38% of the species critical habitat, having an adverse effect on pollinator populations, changing hydrology, removing soil, and increasing the risk of subsidence.

Donnelly said that the "Buckwheat Island" scenario by Ioneer would be fatal for this delicate little flower.

The mine is one of many renewable energy-related initiatives in Nevada that are facing legal or regulatory issues. They include a second lithium mine that has been proposed close to the Oregon border. It is also near a geothermal power plant in wetlands about 100 miles east of Reno, where the Dixie Valley toad has been listed as endangered.

Donnelly stated that since the buckwheat is now protected, they will make sure Ioneer doesn't harm even a single hair on a buckwheat's head by making full use of the Endangered Species Act, AP News reports.