Nevada
US pulls plug on authorization for lithium exploration next to a national wildlife refuge in Nevada
RENO, Nev. (AP) — Federal land managers have formally withdrawn their authorization of a Canadian mining company’s lithium exploration project bordering a national wildlife refuge in southern Nevada after conservationists sought a court order to block it.
The Center for Biological Diversity and the Amargosa Conservancy said in a lawsuit filed July 7 that the project on the edge of the Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge outside Las Vegas posed an illegal risk to a dozen fish, snail and plant species currently protected under the Endangered Species Act.
They filed an additional motion this week in federal court seeking a temporary injunction prohibiting Rover Metals from initiating the drilling of 30 bore sites in search of the highly sought-after metal used to manufacture batteries for electric vehicles.
A recent spate of human encounters with sharks have made officials and beachgoers more vigilant. Five people have reported being bitten by sharks in some of New York’s most popular beaches since Monday.
Scientists monitoring the white shark population in the waters off Cape Cod are attaching better sensors to the predators, including cameras.
The environment ministers of Poland and Germany have met on the border of the two countries to discuss protection of a river against a repeat of deadly pollution that killed hundreds of tons of fish last year.
Researchers at California State University, Long Beach, used drones to study juvenile white sharks along the Southern California coastline and how close they swim to humans in the water.
But before a judge in Las Vegas could rule on the request, the Bureau of Land Management notified Rover Metals on Wednesday that its earlier acknowledgment of the company’s notice of its intent to proceed “was in error.”
“The agency has concluded that proposed operations are likely to result in disturbance to localized groundwaters that supply the connected surface waters associated with Threatened and Endangered species in local springs,” said Angelita Bulletts, district manager of the bureau’s southern Nevada district.
“BLM is rescinding the Acknowledgment of the Notice issued on April 6 (because) the operator cannot prevent unnecessary or undue degradation based on the record before it,” she wrote in the formal notice Wednesday.
Conservationists said the reversal provides at least a temporary reprieve for the lush oasis in the Mojave Desert that is home to 25 species of fish, plants, insects and snails that are found nowhere else on Earth — one of the highest concentrations of endemic species in North America at one of the hottest, driest places on the planet.
“This is a remarkable victory for our community here in the Amargosa Basin,” said Mason Voehl, the Amargosa Conservancy’s executive director. “Mining doesn’t belong near our beloved Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge.”
Rover Metals didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
The company announced in April that it had received an “exploration drill permit” from the bureau for its Let’s Go Lithium project planned on 6,000 acres (2,428 hectares) of federal land near the California-Nevada line and Death Valley National Park.
The company maintained that a formal environmental review wasn’t necessary under the National Environmental Policy Act at this stage of the work.
But the Center for Biological Diversity said in a letter to the bureau in May the project planned within 2,000 feet (609 meters) of the refuge was subject to review even at the exploratory stage because of the presence of the protected species, including the endangered pupfish.
It argued the company had to submit a formal plan of operations so the bureau could determine whether it complies with the law in consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The agency said Wednesday it agrees.
Patrick Donnelly, Great Basin director at the center, said he was relieved that the combination of the lawsuit and “overwhelming public opposition compelled federal officials to slam the breaks on this project just days before drilling was supposed to start.”
“We need lithium for our renewable energy transition, but this episode sends a message loud and clear that some places are just too special to drill,” he said.
LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – Clark County asks consumers to ”not panic buy at the pump.”
After messages from Clark County saying the fires in California were potentially affecting the fuel lines servicing Southern Nevada, the County is advising the public to not run out and buy gas for their cars.
The gas line from California to Nevada will re-start and be operational by Friday.
Message from Clark County:
“In working with California, a solution has been put in place which will power the Kinder Morgan fuel line into southern Nevada and fuel should start to flow into the valley in the next 12-24 hours. Clark County Office of Emergency Management remains engaged on this issue with regional and state partners. The public is encouraged to not panic buy at the pump.”
FOX5 will have a full report on the gas line running from California to Nevada at 10 and 11 p.m.
Copyright 2025 KVVU. All rights reserved.
Nevada
Missing Southfield girl might be in Nevada with man who just found out he’s her father, police say
SOUTHFIELD, Mich. – A 4-year-old Southfield girl who has been missing for two months might be in Nevada with a man who just found out he’s her father, police said.
Bali Packer was picked up by her biological father, Juwon Madison, on Nov. 10, 2024, and has not been returned to her mother, Timeah Wright-Smith.
Packer was last seen wearing a blue PJ mask shirt, pink hat, pink leggings, and pink boots.
Madison is not listed on Packer’s birth certificate, and no court order in place states he has any parenting time.
He recently discovered that he may have been the father of Packer prior to picking her up with her mother’s permission, who is the sole guardian of the 4-year-old girl.
Madison is believed to have left Michigan and went down to Nevada.
Wright-Smith does not believe Packer is in any danger.
| Bali Packer | Details |
|---|---|
| Eyes | Brown |
| Age | 4 |
| Height | 3′3″ |
| Hair | Brown |
| Weight | 3 pounds |
Anyone with information should contact the Southfield Police Department at 248-796-550 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-Speak Up.
All tips to Crime Stoppers are anonymous. Click here to submit a tip online.
READ: More Missing in Michigan coverage
Copyright 2021 by WDIV ClickOnDetroit – All rights reserved.
Long before Southern Nevada built its winding highways, desert tortoises roamed freely without consequence. For these federally protected animals, crossing the street without a dedicated path could mean a death sentence.
Along a 34-mile stretch of U.S. Highway 93 near Coyote Springs, fencing and underground tortoise crossings will allow for more safe passage.
“We see substantial road mortality and near-misses in this area,” said Kristi Holcomb, Southern Nevada biological supervisor at the Nevada Department of Transportation. “By adding the fencing, we’ll be able to stop the bleed.”
The federal Department of Transportation awarded Nevada’s transportation agency a $16.8 million grant to build 61 wildlife crossings and 68 miles of fencing along the highway. Clark and Lincoln counties, as well as private companies such as the Coyote Springs Investment group, will fund the project in total.
Under the Endangered Species Act, the federal government listed Mojave desert tortoises as threatened in 1990. The project area includes the last unfenced portion of what the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service considers to be the desert tortoise’s “critical habitat.”
In Clark County, some keep desert tortoises as pets, adoptions for which are only authorized through one Nevada nonprofit, the Tortoise Group. Environmentalists in the area have long worried that sprawling solar projects may have an adverse effect on tortoise populations. As many as 1,000 tortoises per square mile inhabited the Mojave Desert before urban development, according to the Center for Biological Diversity.
Crossings prevent inbreeding
One major reason that connecting critical habitat across a highway is paramount is to prevent inbreeding, Holcomb said.
“When you build a highway down the middle of a desert tortoise population, they become shy about crossing the highway,” Holcomb said. “By installing tortoise fences, we’ll give the tortoise population a chance to recover.”
Desert tortoises tend to walk parallel to the fences, which will lead them to the crossings they need to go to the other side. Promoting genetic diversity is one way different tortoise populations can be stabilized, Holcomb said.
The Nevada Department of Transportation doesn’t have a set timeline, and the project will need to go through an expedited federal review process to ensure full consideration of environmental effects.
“Be mindful, not only of tortoises that might be on the roadway, but also of our impacts on tortoises,” Holcomb added.
Contact Alan Halaly at ahalaly@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlanHalaly on X.
Why did Will Howard transfer to Ohio State? Explaining Kansas State departure
Oklahoma State LB Jeff Roberson Headed to Big 10 School
Why Oregon lawmakers are asking Elon Musk to stop plan to kill 450,000 barred owls
Criminal charges for climate pollution? Some argue a Pa. law would apply
Budget Breakdown: Is This $590K Rhode Island Home “Too California?” Not for Its Owners
Colorado Rockies game no. 116 thread: Zac Gallen vs José Ureña
Why Marjorie Taylor Greene was ‘kicked out’ of the Freedom Caucus according to Rep. Buck
See it: Tesla crashes into Columbus convention center at 70 mph
Fox News Politics: Georgia the whole day through
Death of missing Oregon girl found in stream ruled homicide
Drone Collision Grounds Firefighting Plane in Los Angeles
Trump to be sentenced in New York criminal trial
Poland says Netanyahu won't be arrested if he attends Auschwitz event
Trump set for sentencing in his New York felony conviction
Mapping the Damage From the Palisades Fire
-
Business1 week agoThese are the top 7 issues facing the struggling restaurant industry in 2025
-
Culture1 week agoThe 25 worst losses in college football history, including Baylor’s 2024 entry at Colorado
-
Sports1 week agoThe top out-of-contract players available as free transfers: Kimmich, De Bruyne, Van Dijk…
-
Politics1 week agoNew Orleans attacker had 'remote detonator' for explosives in French Quarter, Biden says
-
Politics1 week agoCarter's judicial picks reshaped the federal bench across the country
-
Politics6 days agoWho Are the Recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom?
-
Health5 days agoOzempic ‘microdosing’ is the new weight-loss trend: Should you try it?
-
World1 week agoIvory Coast says French troops to leave country after decades