Environmentalists and a Nevada-based Native American tribe joined forces Wednesday to challenge the Bureau of Land Management’s approval of exploratory mine drilling they fear could undermine the nearby Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge.
Citing alleged threats to three federally protected plants, as well as Amargosa River waters considered sacred by local Natives, the Amargosa Conservancy, Center for Biological Diversity and Timbisha Shoshone Tribe filed the lawsuit in a bid to stop the drilling.
“The connection our people share with the Amargosa River and its abundant plant and wildlife communities is older than time,” Mandi Campbell, the Timbisha Shoshone Tribe’s historic preservation officer, said in a statement, adding that “we have stood tall in the face of mining threats in these lands before, and we’re doing it again.”
The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California addresses a zeolite exploration project proposed by St. Cloud Mining.
