Fish and Wildlife Service snail’s pace spurs legal challenge

By Michael Doyle | 01/15/2025 01:27 PM EST

The lawsuit asserts that a blown Endangered Species Act deadline put the Kings River pyrg in danger from a proposed Nevada lithium mining site.

A Kings River pyrg snail sits on a person's finger.

The tiny Kings River pyrg is a snail found in 13 isolated springs within 14 miles of Thacker Pass in Humboldt County, Nevada. Corey Lange/Bureau of Land Mangement/FWS/Flickr

A tiny Nevada snail has slid into an environmental dispute with the filing of a lawsuit Monday that asserts a proposed lithium mine endangers the vulnerable Kings River pyrg.

The Western Watersheds Project joined the People of Red Mountain in the suit alleging the Fish and Wildlife Service missed a crucial Endangered Species Act deadline for deciding whether to protect the pyrg.

“This rare species has extremely limited distribution and limited mobility and is thus highly vulnerable to threats including impacts associated with the Thacker Pass Lithium Mine, spring modification, drought, livestock grazing, and climate change,” the lawsuit says.

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Filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada, the lawsuit puts Fish and Wildlife on the spot, as the relevant ESA deadline and agency response times both appear to be cut and dry.

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