Scott Sonner

Associated Press

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed designating the high-desert range halfway between Reno and Las Vegas as critical habitat for the Tiehm's buckwheat. It is also the site of a proposed lithium mine by the Australian-based Ioneer USA Corp.

U.S. Backs Rare Flower Habitat Amid Nevada Lithium Mine Fight

The mine would help produce lithium batteries for electric vehicles.

In this Oct. 13, 2018, file photo, a sign marks the entrance to the Tesla Gigafactory in Sparks, Nev. A Russian citizen has pleaded guilty to offering a Tesla employee $1 million to get malware into the electric car company's plant in Nevada and enable a ransomware attack. Attorneys representing Egor Igorevich Kriuchkov did not immediately respond Friday, March 19, 2021, to messages about his Thursday plea in U.S. District Court in Reno.

Russian Pleads Guilty to Tesla Ransomware Plot

He offered a Tesla employee $1 million to cripple the electric car company’s massive electric battery plant in Nevada.

In this June 11, 2020 file photo Wynn Whitmeyer of the Idaho Falls Fire Department uses a drip can to ignite cheat grass and tumbleweeds during a controlled burn east of Idaho Falls, Idaho. Environmentalists have filed a notice of intent to sue the U.S government to block plans to build up to 11,000 miles (17,700 kilometers) of fuel breaks they claim would violate the Endangered Species Act in a misguided effort to slow the advance of wildfires in six Western states.

Group Moves to Sue US Gov't Over Fuel Break Plan

Fuel breaks involve clearing stretches of vegetation to slow the progress of fires.

Exterior view of the Tesla factory in Fremont, California.

Russian Pleads Not Guilty in Foiled Tesla Ransomware Plot

He's accused of offering a Tesla employee $1 million to enable a ransomware attack at the company's plant.

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Big Nevada Gold Mine Expansion On Hold

Environmentalists say the expansion could prove catastrophic to wildlife, cultural resources and nearby high-desert springs.

This photo provided by the Center for Biological Diversity shows Tiehm's buckwheat blooming at Rhyolite Ridge in the Silver Peak Range of Western Nevada, on June 1, 2019.

Rare Wildflower Could Jeopardize Lithium Mine

It is one of the most promising deposits of lithium in the world.

This June 1, 2019, file photo provided by the Center for Biological Diversity, shows the rare desert wildflower Tiehm's buckwheat in the Silver Peak Range about 120 miles southeast of Reno, Nev. An Australian mining company says its pursuit of a huge lithium deposit in Nevada is critical to accelerating the manufacture of electric vehicles and reducing greenhouse gases. Opponents argue the mine can't be built without causing the extinction of the only native population of the rare desert wildflower known to exist in the world.

Electric Cars vs. Flowers

In this April 9, 2015, file photo, people walk into the south portal of Yucca Mountain during a congressional tour of the proposed radioactive waste dump near Mercury, Nev., 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. Nevada is branding federal shipments of weapons-grade plutonium to the state a year ago as a 'secret ... smuggling operation,' and urging a U.S. District Court judge in Reno to reject a bid to dismiss a lawsuit because the Energy Department has already promised no more material will be brought to the state. A court filing Monday, Dec. 16, 2019, seeks oral arguments in a yearlong legal battle over the state's bid for a court order to remove the highly radioactive material from a vast secure government reservation north of Las Vegas.

US Accused of 'Secret Plutonium Smuggling'

The Energy Department insists the issue is moot.

The Greater Sage Grouse perform a mating ritual on a lake near Walden, Colorado.

Court Trims Oil and Gas Auction

The move came after a judge blocked a Trump administration attempt to curtail protection of habitat for endangered sage grouse in seven states.

This photo shows Tiehm's buckwheat in the Silver Peak Range about 120 miles southeast of Reno, Nevada.

Mining Threatens Unique Wildflower

The flower doesn't exist anywhere else in the world and could halt the mining of lithium.

In this April 9, 2015, file photo, people walk into the south portal of Yucca Mountain during a congressional tour of the proposed radioactive waste dump near Mercury, Nev., 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. A federal judge in Reno has agreed to allow Nevada to amend its lawsuit in an ongoing legal battle with the U.S. Energy Department to try to show why the government should be forced to remove weapons-grade plutonium it secretly shipped to a site near Las Vegas last year over the state's objections.

Nevada to Amend Plutonium Suit

Nevada has said from the start that the government failed to complete the necessary environmental reviews before approving the shipment.

In this Sept. 29, 1994 file photo, a CSX Train with spent nuclear fuel passes through Florence, S.C., on its way to Savannah River Site Weapons Complex near Aiken S.C. Lawyers for Nevada and the Energy Department are accusing each other of contradicting their past arguments as the state seeks to restart a legal challenge to force the government to remove weapons-grade plutonium it secretly shipped to a site near Las Vegas last year. A federal judge in Reno refused earlier this year to issue a temporary injunction banning shipments of the radioactive material to Nevada after the government disclosed in January 2019, it already had trucked one-half metric ton of plutonium there.

Nevada Seeks to Restart Plutonium Suit

A federal judge earlier this year refused to ban shipments of the radioactive material to Nevada after the government disclosed it already had trucked one-half metric ton of plutonium there.