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U.S. backs rare flower habitat amid Nevada lithium mine fight

It’s the only place in the world the wildflower is known to exist and it's where Ioneer USA plans to build a lithium mine.

Credit: AP

In this photo taken June 1, 2019, by Patrick Donnelly of the Center for Biological Diversity is the rare desert wildflower Tiehm's buckwheat in the Silver Peak Range about 120 miles south of Reno, Nev. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed designating the high-desert range halfway between Reno and Las Vegas as critical habitat for the Tiehm's buckwheat. It is also the site of a proposed lithium mine by the Australian-based Ioneer USA Corp. (Patrick Donnelly/Center for Biological Diversity via AP)

RENO, Nev. — The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed designating critical habitat for a Nevada wildflower it plans to list as endangered.

The move comes amid a conflict over the flower and a mine to produce lithium batteries for electric vehicles critical to the Biden administration’s plans to combat climate change.

The agency proposed designating critical habitat for Tiehm’s buckwheat on a high-desert ridge 200 miles from Reno. It’s the only place in the world the wildflower is known to exist and it's where Ioneer USA plans to build a lithium mine.

Ioneer says the critical habitat designation doesn't affect company plans.

Full story HERE.

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