The federal lawsuit the
Government scientists are continuing to investigate the mysterious, unprecedented loss of thousands of the plants discovered earlier this month at the site
They have indicated so far they agree with the Australian mining company’s contention that rodents or other small mammals ate them.
The conservation group says somebody dug up the flowers — as many as 17,000, or 40% of the remaining population. But it said in the lawsuit filed Tuesday in
“Regardless of the cause, all parties agree that the impact on the plants is `alarming,’ ” the lawsuit said. “Emergency action is essential to address the dire situation of the plant and the on-going risk of further harm.”
The
The species is found on just 10 acres (4 hectares) of land spread across 2 square miles (5 square kilometers) in the remote
The center had filed a lawsuit late last year against the
The new lawsuit cites the “extraordinary circumstances at hand — in which the fate of a highly imperiled plant on BLM lands hangs in the balance and emergency action is clearly called for.”
“Now it’s on the brink of extinction,” he said. “This new destruction underscores the urgent need to save Tiehm’s buckwheat before it’s too late.”
Construction of the mine is scheduled to begin next year.
The lawsuit said that Tiehm's buckwheat was estimated to have a global population of 43,921 individuals before the recent destruction of the plants sometime
“The loss of 40% of the population would leave about 26,400 individual surviving plants,” the lawsuit said. It said loss of the plants “remains a clear and, until stopped, ongoing threat to the species’ very survival."
The lawsuit referenced a half-dozen scientists who wrote letters to the
“Botanists specializing in buckwheat and desert plants, along with mammologists, have stated that the damage appears unprecedented in severity and inconsistent with previously reported rodent depredations," the lawsuit said.
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