Science is Fun Fridays!

 

Tiehm's buckwheat is only found in a few acres of Esmeralda County here in Nevada.  A recent proposal from the US Fish and Wildlife Service, in response to a petition from the Center of Biological Diversity, seeks to protect this plant from a gigantic lithium mine.

This area of Rhyolite Ridge holds the largest known lithium and boron deposit in North America.

Being an Endangered Species won't stop the mine, but it will make things more difficult for their environmental impact review, which has already been delayed.

The CBD argues that nearly 60% of the plant's habitat will be impacted during phase 1 alone, an up to 90% in phase 2.  "Tiehm's buckwheat shouldn't be wiped off the face of the Earth by an open-pit mine," said Nevada state director, Patrick Donnelly.

The ridge also sits in a transition zone between the high desert and lower Mojave, so it is a crucial area for studying the effects of climate change.

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