Scientists urge state to protect buckwheat threatened by lithium mining
There is a lot that remains unknown about Tiehm’s buckwheat. Groups even debate the proper grammar of its name (Tiehm or Tiehm’s). What’s not in dispute is that this species lives across fewer than 10 acres in western Nevada. It is found nowhere else in the world.
And the small buckwheat faces a new threat: lithium mining.
For this reason and others, botanists and conservationists are urging state officials to give the plant added protections under the law, concerned that the mining project, by degrading large swaths of the only habitat known to sustain the species, could lead to the rare plant’s extinction.
During a virtual meeting Monday morning, they argued that the Division of Forestry needed to step in and add the plant to the state’s list of fully protected species. Listing the plant would require the mining company obtain a permit from the state and could delay the project.
Read more: https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/scientists-urge-state-to-protect-buckwheat-threatened-by-lithium-mining
