Ash Meadows granted federal mining protections after push from community
An extensive fight to protect the water of Nevada’s Amargosa Valley may soon be won, ending a nearly two-year battle that spanned from the nation’s capital to the porches of Nye County residents forced to spend thousands of dollars to drill their wells deeper. If approved, any new attempts of exploration for lithium or any other minerals near the Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, about 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, will be denied for 20 years. The Bureau of Land Management recommended that Deb Haaland, secretary of the Interior, use her power on Tuesday to initiate a so-called 20-year “mineral withdrawal,” an action that suspends new mining activity in a swath of land that spans nearly 309,000 acres. The initiation of the withdrawal process immediately suspends new mining development activities in the proposed area for a period of two years, during which land managers can conduct an environmental review.