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Sign up to attend an Online Public Information Session this Thursday, July 13, 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Pacific Standard Time, to learn from the leadership of Friends of the Inyo conservation partner the Amargosa Conservancy about an imminent exploratory mining threat to the fragile Ash Meadows Wildlife Refuge!

What's Happening?

Rover Metals, a Canadian mining exploration company, has proposed drilling 30 boreholes on public lands just north of Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge to conduct exploration for a possible lithium mine. While Ash Meadows is a protected refuge surrounded by an Area of Critical Environmental Concern in Nevada's Amargosa Valley, some of the proposed drill sites are less than 2,000 feet from springs in the refuge that form critical habitat for endangered pupfish and other endangered and endemic species.

Amargosa Conservancy and the Center for Biological Diversity, have filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Land Management, whom they say violated federal law by failing to require an environmental review or consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over potential harm to endangered species at the wildlife rescue. 

According to a July 7 press release from the plaintiffs, Ash Meadows is a lush oasis in the Mojave Desert where dozens of springs form expansive wetlands. The wildlife refuge harbors 25 species of fish, plants, insects and snails that are found nowhere else on Earth. Twelve of these species are protected under the Endangered Species Act. The United Nations has designated the refuge a RAMSAR Wetland of International Importance.