RENO, Nev.— The U.S. Bureau of Land Management released a final environmental impact statement today for a proposed Nevada lithium mine that would push Tiehm’s buckwheat to extinction despite the rare flower’s protection under the Endangered Species Act.

The proposed Rhyolite Ridge Lithium Mine in Esmeralda County, Nevada, is sited directly on the only known habitat in the world for the wildflower.

“It’s an outrage that the BLM and Fish and Wildlife Service capitulated to the demands of a mining company whose plans clearly run afoul of the Endangered Species Act,” said Patrick Donnelly, Great Basin director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “These agencies are entrusted with preserving our biodiversity for future generations, and instead they’re turning this flower’s only known habitat into an industrial site, condemning it to extinction.”

The final environmental impact statement is part of a required process that Bureau staff described as being on “a very aggressive schedule that deviates from other project schedules on similar projects,” in emails obtained by the Center through the Freedom of Information Act.

The final plan is largely unchanged from the draft plan, which was published and open for public comment in April. The Center submitted expert reports on hydrology, air quality, botany and geotechnical stability demonstrating that the mine was likely to drive Tiehm’s buckwheat extinct. The BLM mostly ignored those reports, instead siding with consultants paid for by the mining company.

In June more than 100 scientists submitted a letter to the Bureau expressing concern that the mine plan put Tiehm’s buckwheat “on a path to extinction,” and that “No mitigation measures will sufficiently address these impacts to appreciably reduce the risk of extinction.”

“I remain more concerned than ever that the BLM ignored the best available science and issued a mine plan that could propel Tiehm’s buckwheat towards extinction,” said Naomi Fraga, Ph.D., director of conservation at the California Botanic Garden and organizer of the scientists’ letter. “Scientists from around the world have rallied behind this little plant and made clear that the mine’s plans are incompatible with the conservation of the species.”

A narrow endemic plant, Tiehm’s buckwheat grows on just 10 acres within the footprint of the proposed mine. As a result of a petition and subsequent lawsuits from the Center for Biological Diversity, the buckwheat was protected under the Endangered Species Act in 2022, and 910 acres of critical habitat surrounding the species were protected.

The mine plan would result in the direct destruction of 21% of the protected critical habitat, and according to expert reports, significant degradation of the entirety of the critical habitat due to dust and pollutant deposition, erosion and pollinator disruption, among other factors.

“Federal agencies seem bound and determined to approve this mine, which would be a direct assault on both Tiehm’s buckwheat and the integrity of the Endangered Species Act,” said Donnelly. “We’ve been fighting to save this little wildflower from extinction for more than five years, and we’re not backing down.”