The Biden administration in its eleventh hour is pushing to protect hundreds of thousands of acres in southern Nevada, a move that could slow plans to mine for lithium in sensitive areas, including on the edges of a desert refuge.
The Interior Department on Wednesday is slated to publish in the Federal Register a proposal to withdraw about 309,000 acres of federal land in the Amargosa Valley in Nye County, Nevada, for up to 20 years, blocking the land from leasing for mineral or geothermal projects under federal law.
Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), who pushed for the move, applauded the administration for protecting the region’s unique ecosystem and urged incoming President-elect Donald Trump to follow and complete the process.
“The incredible biodiversity of the Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge is being threatened by proposals for invasive, unproductive exploratory mining, which is why I called on the Department of the Interior to protect it,” said Cortez Masto. “I’m glad the Biden-Harris Administration is stepping in to ensure we preserve the unique ecological system and the critical water resources the region provides.”