** BLM employee blows the whistle on Nevada lithium mining project
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Monday, February 10, 2020
Photo by BLM Nevada ([link removed])
The Department of the Interior's Inspector General is evaluating a whistleblower claim ([link removed]) filed by a Nevada BLM employee alleging that the Tonopah District Office has approved mining and drilling projects without adequate environmental reviews, and allowed the construction of recreational cabins for personal use on public lands under the guise of active mining claims. In particular, the complaint highlights the proposed Rhyolite Ridge lithium mining project that is proposed by a foreign-owned mining corporation ([link removed]) and has the potential to wipe out a rare species of plant only found in that area of Nevada.
Patrick Donnelly, the Nevada state director for the Center for Biological Diversity is familiar with the substance of the complaint and echoed many of the same concerns, stating ([link removed]) “In this administration, we have seen the doors to our public lands be thrown wide open to industry by the BLM avoiding and subverting any environmental protections we have on the books. Sometimes that is through sweeping secretarial orders upending management of public lands but sometimes it’s just guys at their job trying to make the boss happy.”
Quick hits
** Coalition of ranchers blindsided by Trump's border wall construction
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High Country News ([link removed])
** BLM employee blows the whistle on Nevada lithium mining project
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Politico ([link removed])
** Ambitious conservation goal of protecting 30% of land and water by 2030 is gaining supporters
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E&E News ([link removed])
** Low industry interest, impacts to tourism considered for opening more of Utah's public lands to drilling & mining
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NPR ([link removed])
** Arizona national monument with Native American burial sites in the path of Trump's border wall construction
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CBS News ([link removed])
** Plans to overhaul the nation's bedrock environmental law make their way to Colorado's national forests
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Denver Post ([link removed])
** Top reasons to visit Yellowstone National Park in the winter
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Travel Awaits ([link removed])
** Opinion: Efforts to weaken protections for clean water are deeply misguided
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New York Times ([link removed])
Quote of the day
I continue to stand with the millions of Americans, including tribes whose ancestral sites reside within these monuments, who have called for protecting our public lands. We have a moral responsibility to defend and conserve these monuments for our children and future generations.”
—U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich ([link removed]) responding to the BLM's revised management plans for Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments
Picture this
** @ ([link removed]) USFWS ([link removed])
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Everything is better with a buddy, even if your buddy is a different species. Coyotes and badgers know this and sometimes hunt together. [link removed] ([link removed]) Photo by Kimberly Fraser/USFWS
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