RENO, Nev.— The Center for Biological Diversity filed a formal notice today of its intent to sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for failing to protect the critically imperiled Railroad Valley toad under the Endangered Species Act. The rare toads face mounting threats from the region’s growing oil and gas industry.

The toads are found at just one small spring-fed wetland complex in Railroad Valley, Nevada — the epicenter of the state’s oil and gas industry — and are isolated from other toads by miles of arid desert.

“The Railroad Valley toad is an important example of the unique, rich biodiversity that makes Nevada so special and wild,” said Krista Kemppinen, Ph.D., a senior scientist at the Center. “The Bureau of Land Management’s permissive approach to oil and gas extraction in Railroad Valley poses an existential threat to this imperiled little toad. Endangered Species Act protection is the only chance these animals have to stave off extinction.”

Railroad Valley has multiple active oil fields. Much of the area’s public land, including land around the toad’s habitat, has been leased by the BLM for oil and gas production. Water withdrawals for fracking, as well as leaks and spills, threaten to destroy the toad’s scarce aquatic habitat.

Exacerbating these threats is a recent BLM proposal to sell about 250 acres of public land to Nevada’s only oil refinery, less than 10 miles from the toad’s habitat. This land sale would facilitate the refinery’s expansion, risking more water usage and pollution.

Following the Center’s 2022 petition, the Fish and Wildlife Service in January found the toads may warrant protection under the Endangered Species Act. However, the agency has yet to grant endangered species protections to the toads.

In addition to oil and gas extraction, the Railroad Valley toad is threatened by a lithium project near its habitat, as well as livestock grazing, mining and climate change.

“Water is essential for life in the nation’s driest state, but we humans treat this resource like it belongs to us alone,” said Kemppinen. “More fossil fuel extraction will deplete this precious resource and worsen the climate emergency. The Railroad Valley toad is doomed to extinction unless the federal government takes proactive steps to save it.”