A small toad from Nevada caught up in a legal fight because of a geothermal power program. Now, according to Phys, authorities had officially declared it as an endangered species when wildlife officers from the US temporarily included it as an occasionally used basis for emergencies just last springtime.
The Fish and Wildlife Service of the US made an official statement regarding listing the Dixie Valley toad as an endangered species.
The Dixie Valley Toad From Nevada
According to the Fish and Wildlife Service, the Dixie Valley amphibian is now at risk of becoming extinct because of the passing and start of development in the geothermal space.
Some of the threats these species face include agriculture, disease, climate change, pumping of groundwater, and being preyed on by bullfrogs.
The temporary listing of the Dixie Valley toad last April was only the second time in the previous 20 years that the service took such emergency measures.
Rallying to protect the toad can be traced back to 2017. A group of environmentalists filed a petition in January 2017 to prevent the further building of a geothermal plant situated on the edges of wet areas where these toads resided. This was around 160 km east of Reno, the only recognized habitat of the species.
According to PBS, the regional director of the Center of Biological Diversity mentioned how the Biden administration is making a significant step to protect the species from becoming extinct, especially as it is an indispensable part of Nevada's biodiversity.
Efforts to Minimize Geothermal Threats Against the Toad
Now, with this listing, the Service must investigate the effects of the geothermal project worth $68 million on the said species, as it can be found in close proximity to the construction site, as noted by Reuters.
Ormat Technology, the developers behind the project, mentioned how this decision was unexpected considering their emergency listing made last spring. The firm has been working alongside the said agency and the US Bureau of Land Management in the past months. Their collaboration was done so that parts of the project could be adjusted so that the toad's mitigation could be boosted and anything threatening its survival could be reduced.
A lawsuit regarding building two geothermal plants that could make up to 60 MW of electricity has now reached the Us District Judge. The suit already reached the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals once. This court had previously refused to provide a time-bounded injunction to stop the plant construction earlier approved by the bureau last December 2021.
However, just a few hours after the ruling was made, Ormat Technology announced how the company conceded to halt the project until the next year temporarily. In the latter part of October, both Ormat and the bureau asked to hold the case as Ormat submitted another proposal to build only a single geothermal plant capable of producing just 12 MW of electricity.
The vice president of Ormatshared that after this emergency listing was made, Ormat sought consultation and approval to push through with a smaller project that could ensure that the species will not be threatened by further geothermal development. He shared how the facility aims to have zero-emissions and be renewable, so it would also be at par with the Biden administration's initiative for clean energy and the battle against climate change.
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