Look West: Public lands and energy news from the Center for Western Priorities


** Lithium mine in Utah threatens Colorado River tributary
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Friday, February 9, 2024
Green River from Hardscrabble Hill; Canyonlands ([link removed](7443480280).jpg) NPS/Andrew Kuhn ([link removed](7443480280).jpg)

An Australian company is looking into mining ([link removed]) lithium from underground brine near Green River, Utah. The company has also acquired rights ([link removed]) to pull freshwater from the nearby Green River, a tributary of the Colorado River.

The company has been using old oil wells ([link removed]) to test the amount of lithium in brine, a salty liquid deep beneath the ground. The area's groundwater is rich in lithium ([link removed]) from when it was a marine basin millions of years ago. There are different ways to extract lithium from the earth. In this case, lithium would be separated from saline water using chemicals.

Fresh water from the Green River would be used to wash the lithium. The company said almost all of this fresh water would be recycled ([link removed]) and used again. But the Interior Department has raised concerns ([link removed]) about these plans, since the aquifer and the river are connected, and the company has not studied ([link removed]) how groundwater withdrawals might affect the Green River.

BLM announces influx of cash for ecosystem restoration

The Bureau of Land Management will use $41 million ([link removed]) from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for ecosystem restoration. This funding will support 74 projects in 16 states, according to the agency. ([link removed])

Half of the funding will go toward ([link removed]) BLM’s Restoration Landscapes, which will help address threats to wildlife, recreation visitors, and communities on public land. Around $6 million will go toward ([link removed]) restoring and protecting prioritized sagebrush landscapes across four states—part of the Interior Department’s new Sagebrush Keystone Initiative ([link removed]) . See more funding details here ([link removed]) .


** Quick hits
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California’s trees are dying in huge numbers—and Tahoe is the epicenter

San Francisco Chronicle ([link removed])

Got $750 million? That’s what Wyoming lawmakers want for Teton Park’s ‘Kelly Parcel’

WyoFile ([link removed])

Permits to hike in highly coveted sections of the Colorado backcountry go on sale soon

Denver Post ([link removed])

Feds weigh protections for tiny snail near massive lithium mine

Associated Press ([link removed]) | E&E News ([link removed])

New Mexico lawmakers hope to block oil wells near homes, schools

Carlsbad Current-Argus ([link removed])

Indictment of ‘burn boss’ in Oregon could chill ‘good fires’ across the country

Inside Climate News ([link removed])

An uptick in uranium mining could benefit proposed Kemmerer nuclear plant

Wyoming Public Media ([link removed])

Monarch butterfly numbers are down sharply at wintering areas in Mexico

Associated Press ([link removed]) | New York Times ([link removed])


** Quote of the day
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”

We need to have a renewable energy transition, but maybe we shouldn’t be looking for these kinds of quick-fix energy solutions on a drought-stricken river."

—Lauren Wood ([link removed]) , a third-generation resident of Green River, Utah


** Picture This
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@Interior ([link removed])
Happy Birthday, @USFWS ([link removed]) ! We’re wild about you!

Thanks for helping to protect America’s stunning diversity of native fish, plants, wildlife and habitats for 153 years. Photo at Mandalay National Wildlife Refuge in Louisiana by John Corso

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