Sage and Sand: Stormy Weather
Clouds hang low over the desert to start 2023, but the fires of our fight burn bright.
Hello and welcome to another edition of Sage and Sand, looking across the Great Basin and Mojave deserts at the conservation of biodiversity.
It’s been a wet couple of weeks here on the edge of Death Valley. The New Year’s Eve storm dumped about half an inch on us. Then just a few days ago, we got what was only a quarter inch. But subsequent overcast, cool weather with no wind means the ground has remained completely saturated. 99% relative humidity in the morning. It’s glorious, and the plants and animals are loving it, I’m sure. Exactly what they need.
There’s also the hint of spring already. It’s common to find seedlings right now – especially at mid elevations. Low elevations have not gotten as much precip, and it’s too cold above 5000’ or so, but in that sweet spot – 3,000-5,000, sprouts can be found all over the Death Valley region. I wouldn’t mind if they could have waited another month. I stress about the timing of blooms and pollinator activity and whether mismatches could be catastrophic to the long-term viability of these ecosystems. But in the meantime, nothing makes me happier than a good spring bloom, so I’ll be dreaming of flowers for the next few weeks in anticipation.
And so we begin another year of fighting for biodiversity in the Great Basin and Mojave deserts. The challenges are daunting – we are in the crosshairs of one of the biggest natural resource rushes in recent history, and it’s potentially affecting every single species and ecosystem we have. The regulatory environment at the agencies in DC is little better now than it was under the last guy, and this work requires constant vigilance. Stay on your toes, friends. The forces that would drive this planet to oblivion don’t rest. And neither should we.
Onward to the news…
Badge of Honor
It might seem odd to kick off my newsletter by linking to an attack against our work. But given who it’s coming from…
The Las Vegas Review-Journal editorial board has yet again taken exception with the Center’s activities to save biodiversity. I feel like they must be getting tired of trying to claim we are hypocrites for fighting projects which threaten species with extinction, even if they also happen to be clean energy related. And yet, the day after Christmas, they rolled out an editorial making exactly that attack.
At this point, it’s a story as old as time. “Green vs. green.” Etc. I feel like, actually, as time has gone on and more and more stories are out there about the negative impacts of mining and energy production, regardless of the final uses of such minerals or energy, that the “green vs green” narrative is finally giving way to more nuanced discussions. The idea that there could be negative environmental impacts from lithium mining or geothermal energy is much more widely known and accepted now than it was a few years ago. At least partially, I must say, due to the plight of Tiehm’s buckwheat, and to a lesser extent the Dixie Valley toad. And yet, that is exactly what the RJ’s editorial board takes exception with, seemingly oblivious to the possibility that more than one thing can be true. (Clean energy is good and extinction is bad.)
To their credit, while by my count this is the 8th time in less than six years that the RJ has run an editorial specifically criticizing the Center, I never feel like they treat us unfairly. They quote my words and generally represent our viewpoints accurately. I just happen to think they’re wrong. If you’d like to read my rebuttal to a previous time they went after us with a similar line of attack, please see this Review-Journal op-ed I co-authored my colleague Jean Su from June of 2021.
Mining Companies. The True Environmentalists
Continuing to check out silly things from the opinion page, we’ll now look to a new op-ed in the Reno Gazette Journal, in which a retired UNR adjunct instructor who plumps for mining companies regularly says that anyone who opposes lithium mining is not a true environmentalist. We are “so-called environmentalists.” The Rhyolite Ridge Mine is “very environmentally friendly.” BLM “do[es] a great job preserving our country.” The author says he is a “true” environmentalist because he enjoys hiking. This is all such blithering clap trap it’s hardly worth pointing out. But hey, if fighting to protect Tiehm’s buckwheat is getting guys like this worked up, I will again say, we’re probably doing the right thing.
What Next for This Poor Plant?
Just yesterday, we filed a notice of intent to sue BLM for violations of the Endangered Species Act by allowing cattle to graze within Tiehm’s buckwheat critical habitat without evaluating and mitigating the impacts of those actions. Over the New Year I was making my normal visit to Rhyolite Ridge and I encountered seven cows within subpopulation 1 of Tiehm’s buckwheat. It had snowed several inches right before I got there, and the snow revealed numerous cow tracks through subpopulations 1 and 2. I found crushed and damaged buckwheats within the hoof prints of these bovines, and it was clear they were having a negative impact on the plants and their habitat during what is a very vulnerable time. The buckwheats go dormant in the winter, and when the ground is saturated from the snow it is quite mushy. It’s a very delicate habitat and it’s no place for thousand pound non-native ungulates.
We’ll see what BLM does but in the meantime, the buckwheat saga continues…
Read more in Nevada Current. Check out the monitoring report with lots of photos (Appendix).
So Long, Jim, and Thanks for the All the Rodent Conspiracies
Jim Lawrence has resigned as Acting Director of the Nevada Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Coupled with the recent exit of former Nevada Department of Wildlife chief Tony Wasley, freshly minted Governor Joe Lombardo cleared the slate at his natural resources agencies. Mr. Lawrence was Acting Director for something like 8 months, and I had wondered if he was just keeping the seat warm. Ultimately, I’m not surprised that he wasn’t elevated to the permanent top job. Mr. Lawrence was a career man at DCNR, not a political appointee. He was a competent administrator and genuinely cared about the credibility and relevance of the agency, to his credit. But I think guys like Sisolak and Lombardo want a show horse atop these agencies, not a work horse. Like the previous DCNR director, for instance. Style, not substance.
Meet The New Boss. Worse than the Old Boss.
I wrote that paragraph last Thursday. On Friday, Governor Lombardo announced his picks for the regulatory agencies. State Senator James Settelmeyer will be the director of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Career NDOW staffer Alan Jenne will be director of the Nevada Department of Wildlife. And Eureka County Commissioner and State Veterinarian J.J. Goicoechea will be director of the Nevada Department of Agriculture.
It's a mixed bag. Settelmeyer is basically a climate denier. His voting record shows him consistently voting against conservation measures during his time in the legislature. Votes against significant climate legislation, votes against protecting public lands, votes against holding mining accountable, hell even votes against funding the agency he will now lead.
There’s also a question as to whether he’s eligible for the job? This twitter thread has an interesting analysis. Recall the unfortunate fate that befell former Assemblywoman Heidi Swank in 2019.
Alan Jenne always seemed like a good guy, perhaps a bit reserved. Like his predecessor he was elevated from the ranks at NDOW, and will likely keep the agency on a relatively smooth trajectory. I oppose some things NDOW does, I support some things they do, but I think generally it is a functional agency which is more than you can say for others.
And finally J.J. Goicoechea leading Ag. The less said the better. He’s an anti-environment, anti-government radical. Lucky for me I don’t deal with NDOA much.
We’ll see what the next four years holds in Carson City…
Dig In and Take Responsibility From There
The climate and ecological crises can be overwhelming sometimes. You don’t need to walk very far out your door before the stark, terrifying realities we are confronting hit you square between the eyes. The news, the weather, the lack of bird song, the desiccating plants in the desert, it can all just be too much. Amargosa Conservancy executive director Mason Voehl writes in this beautiful piece in Desert Report about his antidote to despair. He says he’s “made my world smaller,” carving out “one place, one locale, a particular ecosystem, a particular finite set of living things and rocks and waters and sand and called it ‘my world.’” That world is the beautiful Amargosa River basin, and he describes in this piece how his efforts to defend it has helped him reconcile the endless barrage of bad news about our future with the need to take action and do something about it. I’m lucky enough to serve on the board of directors of the Amargosa Conservancy, and working with Mr. Voehl is one of the highlights of my job. This article is inspiring and I give it my highest endorsement.
Climate and Disability
Here’s an interesting op-ed in the Los Angeles Times, making a connection between the need for urgent climate action and the need to ensure such solutions do not leave disabled people behind. It includes some shocking statistics, such as that people with disabilities are two to four times more likely to die or be critically injured in hurricanes, floods, and heatwaves. The point, the authors say, is to ensure that our response to the climate crisis does not “reinforc[e] patterns of social and economic marginalization.” When we think of intersectional environmentalism, I think most folks primarily think of race and gender, but the need for inclusivity in environmental policy making goes well beyond that. A thought-provoking read.
Military Land Grab Miscellany
I already gave you my postmortem on the Fallon Naval Air Station expansion, and there’s no sense in reveling in our losses, so I will simply pass along a few interesting links. First, the Nevada Appeal has a run down of Churchill County’s take on the expansion and how it will play out in coming months. Much of the article revolves around the prognostications of rural Nevada natural resources consultant Jeremy Drew, who was greasing the wheels for Churchill County on this issue. It’s sort of wild the outside role Mr. Drew plays in the natural resources politics of rural counties in central Nevada. Some journalist should look into that some day.
For more bloviating on Fallon, we can turn Rep. Mark Amodei, as he sat down with KUNR and took credit for the land grab. In reality he probably had little to do with its final passage, given that we knocked his amendment out of House Armed Services last summer. Instead, it’s really Nevada’s dear Senators who can take credit for giving away over half a million acres of public land to the military.
Speaking of taking credit, here’s a piece on Fallon from a rival enviro NGO. This NGO had nothing to do with the Fallon expansion for the past 5 years – they weren’t at the public meetings, they weren’t involved with the coalition pushing back, they never sent anyone to Nevada, can they even find Dixie Valley on a map? They’re basically stealing valor from the people who actually made the horse trade.
Water, Water Everywhere
I don’t often find time to listen to Sam Shad’s show, it often being populated with the dregs of Nevada Inc. capitalism. But when he gets Great Basin Water Network executive director Kyle Roerink on, you never know where the conversation might go. Mr. Roerink, gifted with silver tongue, is never at a loss to share his thoughts about water in the West, from the headwaters of the Colorado River to the remote interior basins of Nevada to the Imperial Valley on the Mexican border. He recently appeared on two episodes of Nevada Newsmakers, and I highly recommend listening to them both. (Episode 1, Episode 2) He mostly waxes poetic about the Colorado River, but they have time to touch on a number of issues – heck even Tiehm’s buckwheat makes an appearance. Never a dull moment when Mr. Roerink has the microphone.
Beaver Fights Back
Speaking of the indomitable Mr. Roerink and his campaigns to save water across the West, there was a dramatic turn of events this week in the fight against the Pine Valley Water Supply Project aka the Cedar City Water Grab. Prior to the current hullabaloo about the federal permitting for the pipeline, Beaver County signed a settlement with Iron County regarding their state water rights application. That settlement agreement was contingent on Iron County putting forward measures to ensure their pumping and pipeline project would not unduly impact senior water rights holders or the public interest.
Now, Beaver County is alleging that Iron County’s plans do not adequately protect those resources, with inadequate monitoring and inadequate mitigation measures. And threatening to litigate if the plans aren’t satisfactorily revised.
Recent studies highlight that there is interconnectedness within the aquifers of the West Desert of Utah, and recharge is limited – that water is fossil water. It ain’t coming back. It begs the question – is there any amount of monitoring or mitigation which will limit the impacts of withdrawing tens of thousands of acre feet of water per year from desert aquifers? The question of adequate mitigation is exactly what killed off the Las Vegas pipeline. In both federal and state court, SNWA was unable to prove that their pumping could be sufficiently mitigated to prevent serious impacts to groundwater dependent ecosystems across eastern Nevada. It seems entirely likely to me that Cedar City’s pipeline plan will befall the same fate – how do you mitigate water loss in a place with no excess water?
Meanwhile, we await the Final EIS and Record of Decision for the pipeline from BLM. The draft EIS sure was a doozy. You can read our joint comments with Great Basin Water Network and numerous other environmental groups.
Read More in the Salt Lake Tribune.
Whither Goes the Progressive NGO Labor Movement?
You’d have to be on Mars not to have caught wind about the rising tide of the labor movement in the progressive NGO space over the past few years. This very lengthy article by Maurice Mitchell, national director of the Working Families Party, is a potent reflection on the problems faced by progressive NGOs, the underlying causes of those problems, symptoms of core problems, and solutions to “reset our course.” There’s also an audio version which makes for a nice hour-long listen for your next run or car ride. Lots to chew on.
The Older the Water, the Sweeter the Juice
Fascinating article last week in the Salt Lake Tribune about geophysicists aging water, and the important implications for water age to water conservation. One of the striking things about the article is just how young the water on the Wasatch Front is – a decade or a little more. It’s just pure snowmelt, running down from the mountains, saturating the alluvium, being pumped out in short course. Such a shocking deviation from, for instance, Great Basin carbonate aquifers, like those in the West Desert of Utah or across the carbonate rock province in Nevada, where water can be 10, 20, 50 thousand years old. We call that fossil groundwater – precipitation that fell during the Pleistocene to fill these aquifers, aquifers which are functionally not being recharged anymore.
I know I’ve mentioned this in past newsletters, but I’ll mention it again. This was one of the fascinating things to come out of the Lower White River Flow System (LWRFS) proceedings we’ve been involved in in Nevada. Detailed hydrologic data from that system showed that aquifers there receive basically zero recharge in normal years. In fact, in the past twenty years, the only appreciable recharge event to aquifers in the LWRFS was during the huge winter of 2004-2005, when epic deluges across the Mojave Desert provided the most water the desert saw in generations. That event did indeed increase groundwater levels in monitoring wells across the LWRFS.
But other than punctuated events of aberrant precipitation, trends for groundwater in the carbonate aquifer system (and hell most every other system across the West) are steadily in decline, as we pump water which fell during the last ice age, and which will never be replenished on a human time scale. This is why obtaining Endangered Species Act protections for species which rely on spring discharge from the carbonate aquifer is so essential – because once those aquifers get drawn down, they won’t ever come back.
As Useless As Gold
An interesting new paper in Environmental Research Letters from an international group of researchers finds that there is no public value in the continued mining of gold.
“In an era when the human and environmental costs of extractive industries are clearer than ever, gold mining stands out for the intensity of its harmful impacts. But unlike fossil fuels, which heat homes and generate electricity, the continued production of primary gold makes a limited contribution to basic human welfare.”
Let’s get one thing straight: any claims you hear from the mining industry about the value and uses of gold are pure propaganda. Per this paper, approximately 70% of global gold production is used for jewelry. Another 20% is basically melted into bars and stuffed into a vault somewhere (i.e. used exclusively as an investment instrument.) Less than 10% of gold has industrial applications. The environmental harms, which I hardly need to recite for you here, are devastating for the communities and ecosystems exposed to them; and all the more so in the Global South, where they don’t have fancy laws like NEPA and CERCLA.
The authors posit that we need to shift to a circular gold economy, which could drastically reduce or almost eliminate new gold mining with little negative impact on supply chains or human quality of life. It’s essential that such a reduction in gold mining comes with a just transition for workers. Luckily, once we nationalize and liquidate the assets of the gold mining companies, there will be plenty of resources to employ those same people to clean up after the mining companies’ mess.
Briefly…
Speaking of mining company messes, NDEP says they are nearing completion of the first phase of cleanup at the Anaconda Mine site in Yerington.
The Army Corps is ramping up studies at the Salton Sea in preparation for a massive deployment of funds and resources to mitigate the environmental impacts of water drawdown due to declining amounts of irrigation in the Imperial Valley.
Advocates in southern California are launching a campaign to protect the proposed Chuckwalla National Monument. This beautiful area east of the Coachella Valley and west of Blythe is full of beautiful slot canyons, hidden springs, and lots of prime desert tortoise habitat. Their proposal is 700,000 acres and encompasses some of the best that California’s Colorado Desert has to offer.
Sammy Roth at the Los Angeles Times has an interesting discussion this week about a case that launched the modern environmental law movement and helped preserve a beautiful part of Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Park. It’s an interesting interview but it’s also interesting how the case represents a pretty old school view of what’s important to protect – in this case, scenic views. Nonetheless, a fascinating look at the genesis of the litigation that defines our work.
That’s all for this edition. Think I’ll go splash around in a puddle while they last and dream of spring. Keep on down that long and dusty trail,
-Patrick
The gold bit is interesting. Reminds me of a claim someone made that only 5% of jobs actually serves human needs, with the remaining mostly serving commerce and social control.
No more gold mining, an idea who's time has come.