Story at a glance
- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) is aiming to designate 910 acres in Esmeralda County, Nevada as a critical habitat for Tiehm’s buckwheat.
- Tiehm’s buckwheat is 6-inch tall wildflower and its only known population exists on this land.
- This land has also been proposed as the site for a lithium mine under the company ioneer’s Lithium-Boron Project.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) is aiming to designate an area known to house a rare Nevada wildflower as a “critical habitat,” potentially throwing a wrench into a company’s proposed plans to build a large lithium mine on the site.
The rule would designate 910 acres in Esmeralda County, Nevada as a critical habitat for Tiehm’s buckwheat. This area of land, under the care of the Bureau of Land Management, is the habitat for the only known population of the 6-inch tall wildflower, which is under consideration for becoming listed as endangered with only 15,757 believed to exist.
“Designating critical habitat for Tiehm’s buckwheat is key to the plant’s persistence and recovery because it occupies such a small range and requires such specific habitat conditions to survive,” Marc Jackson, field supervisor for the USFWS in Reno, said in a press release. “This designation will help us work more effectively with our partners to support current and future land uses that promote conservation and recovery of Tiehm’s buckwheat.”
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A possible complication arises as the specific area has been proposed as the site for a lithium mine under the company ioneer’s Lithium-Boron Project. The mine is projected to directly employ 284 people per year, and 681 people indirectly through generated purchases and construction for the site. Lithium batteries for electric vehicles produced by the mine, which has projected producing 24,000 tons of lithium carbonate/hydroxide and 192,000 tons of boric acid per year, have been proposed in an effort to combat climate change.
However, the company said it supported the USFWS proposal for a critical designation and had already factored the conservation implications into its mine proposal.
“We welcome and fully support the decisions by the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and the work it and the BLM are undertaking to safeguard Tiehm’s buckwheat. Ioneer reiterates its commitment to preservation of this species,” said Managing Director Bernard Rowe.
“From the beginning, the Rhyolite Ridge operation has been designed and planned to incorporate the conservation and protection of Tiehm’s buckwheat,” Rowe said, adding, “ioneer will ensure the necessary measures are in place to mitigate any potential indirect impacts of our operations and natural threats to the plant.”
Editor’s note: This story was updated on Feb. 8, 2022 with a comment from Bernard Rowe.
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