A Canadian mining company has announced it’s suspending a proposal to expand gold mining exploration and road building on California’s Conglomerate Mesa after the US Bureau of Land Management required an environmental impact statement for the project. K2 Gold’s planned mining project in a rugged, road less area near Death Valley National Park threatened the rare Inyo rock daisy. In February the Center and other groups formally petitioned the US Fish and Wildlife Service to protect the wildflower under the federal Endangered Species Act.The Center, the California Native Plant Society and botanist Maria Jesus have also petitioned the California Fish and Game Commission to protect the daisy under the California Endangered Species Act. A new-to-science plant species, the Inyo thread plant, is also located in the area where K2 Gold planned to build roads.Nearly every population of the rock daisy and the largest population of newly described Inyo thread plant are found on mining claims in Conglomerate Mesa in Inyo County. Earlier this month the BLM’s local field office notified the mining company that a comprehensive environmental impact statement would be required before any additional exploratory mining work could be done.The Inyo rock daisy is a rare wildflower found only at the highest elevations of the southern Inyo Mountains, between the Eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains and Death Valley National Park. The western Joshua tree, also found on Conglomerate Mesa, is being considered for full protection under California’s Endangered Species Act.Conglomerate Mesa is part of the National Conservation Lands system as well as an area of critical environmental concern, but these public lands remain open for commercial extraction under the antiquated 1872 Mining Law. The area is also home to numerous other sensitive plant species, Joshua tree woodlands and other natural resources.The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1.7 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.
A Canadian mining company has announced it’s suspending a proposal to expand gold mining exploration and road building on California’s Conglomerate Mesa after the US Bureau of Land Management required an environmental impact statement for the project. K2 Gold’s planned mining project in a rugged, road less area near Death Valley National Park threatened the rare Inyo rock daisy. In February the Center and other groups formally petitioned the US Fish and Wildlife Service to protect the wildflower under the federal Endangered Species Act.The Center, the California Native Plant Society and botanist Maria Jesus have also petitioned the California Fish and Game Commission to protect the daisy under the California Endangered Species Act. A new-to-science plant species, the Inyo thread plant, is also located in the area where K2 Gold planned to build roads.Nearly every population of the rock daisy and the largest population of newly described Inyo thread plant are found on mining claims in Conglomerate Mesa in Inyo County. Earlier this month the BLM’s local field office notified the mining company that a comprehensive environmental impact statement would be required before any additional exploratory mining work could be done.The Inyo rock daisy is a rare wildflower found only at the highest elevations of the southern Inyo Mountains, between the Eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains and Death Valley National Park. The western Joshua tree, also found on Conglomerate Mesa, is being considered for full protection under California’s Endangered Species Act.Conglomerate Mesa is part of the National Conservation Lands system as well as an area of critical environmental concern, but these public lands remain open for commercial extraction under the antiquated 1872 Mining Law. The area is also home to numerous other sensitive plant species, Joshua tree woodlands and other natural resources.The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1.7 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.
