RENO, Nev.: Environmentalists are suing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to try to force the emergency listing of a rare wildflower as an endangered species after much of its population was destroyed at the site of a proposed lithium mine in Nevada.
The federal lawsuit the Center for Biological Diversity filed Tuesday also demands the Bureau of Land Management take immediate action to protect Tiehms buckwheat. It says the species is on the brink of extinction at the only place its known to exist on earth about 200 miles (322 kilometers) southeast of Reno.
Government scientists are continuing to investigate the mysterious, unprecedented loss of thousands of the plants discovered earlier this month at the site Ioneer Ltd. says sits above some of the largest untapped lithium deposits in the world.
They have indicated so far they agree with the Australian mining companys contention that…