Author
Feds auction NV public land leases for record $105 million, highlighting solar boom
Federal land managers auctioned off thousands of acres in Nevada’s Amargosa desert for solar development, resulting in the highest-yielding onshore renewable energy auction in the agency’s history. Last week the U.S Department of the Interior announced the sale of leases on four highly sought land parcels in the Amargosa Desert totaling 23,675 acres for a […]
Court asked to vacate NV lithium mine approval after precedent-setting case
The future of what may potentially become the largest lithium mine in the United States now rests on whether a law enacted in 1872 was correctly implemented when the mine was approved by federal land managers in 2021. Lawyers representing a coalition of environmentalists, tribes, and ranchers urged a U.S. appeals court on Tuesday to […]
Extreme heat costs rural Nevada farmers and taxpayers everywhere
Nevada is known for its mining industry, but during economic downturns residents in rural parts of the state rely on agriculture to fill the gap and keep afloat. A rise in the severity and frequency of extreme weather events caused by climate change have added millions of dollars in losses to the agricultural sector in […]
NV mines test boundaries of 150-year-old mining law
Nevada is emerging as a major battleground to determine the fate of a century-and-a-half-old mining law as demand for critical minerals in the U.S soars. Mining developers looking to extract minerals in Nevada are grappling with the aftermath of a 2022 federal court ruling against an Arizona copper mine, now known – infamously among mining […]
Nevada to receive $12 million from Interior for habitat restoration
The Bureau of Land Management has allocated $12 million to perform habitat restoration work across two swaths of Nevada as part of the Biden administration’s broader multibillion-dollar nationwide conservation spending campaign. In Nevada, BLM will spend $6 million on the Montana Mountains in northwest Nevada, and $6 million on the Humboldt O’Neil Basin landscape. That […]
Legislation prohibits penalties for street vendors, mandates counties create path to permits
For years, street food vendors have asked lawmakers to update ordinances that create legal and financial hurdles to obtaining a valid permit — but they may have to wait a little longer. With near unanimous bipartisan support, Nevada lawmakers have passed a bill that would give counties and cities the authority to establish a clear […]
‘We blew a major opportunity this year:’ Session falls short on addressing drought, groups say
In the nation’s driest state, water emerged as a uniting issue among lawmakers and conservation groups during the state’s legislative session. This year saw a deluge of water conservation bills, from retiring water rights to septic tank removal and mitigating pit lakes to revisions for outdated water laws. While Nevada received some much-needed relief from […]
Colorado River states reach an agreement, but not a solution
After months of negotiations, seven Western states along the Colorado River have agreed to water cuts over the next three years to help keep two of the main reservoirs, Lake Mead and Lake Powell, from falling to critically low levels — but those cuts fall short of what scientists say are needed to stabilize the […]
‘Apprehensive but optimistic’: Nevada’s least populated county braces for industrial development
In the arid landscapes that make up Esmeralda County, there is a huge cache of untapped wealth that mining companies are racing to acquire: lithium. Ralph Keyes, the Chair of the Esmeralda County Board of Commissioners, likens the boom in mining applications to the California Gold Rush in its intensity, scale, and potential for lasting […]
Lithium mining company hopes to plow ahead by growing endangered plant in greenhouse
Rhyolite Ridge in Nevada is one of the only two major known global deposits of lithium-boron. It’s also the location of the only known population of the Tiehm’s buckwheat plant, a rare wildflower listed as endangered by the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service in December. Despite the listing, Australia-based mine developer Ioneer Corp., has maintained […]
Southern Nevada gets brunt of Southwest Gas rate hike
Utility regulators approved a price hike for Southwest Gas customers, and ratepayers in Southern Nevada are expected to get the brunt of it. Last week, the Public Utilities Commission unanimously approved Southwest Gas’ request for a new annual rate, which would increase the utility’s revenue by $11.8 million, citing higher natural gas prices as its […]
Mining bristles at water conservation bill to prevent abandoned pits
Hundreds of thousands of abandoned mines litter Nevada, left by their owners decades ago. From those mines, plenty of valuable minerals have been extracted: gold, silver, lead, copper. What’s left behind in many cases, however, is acidic water and heavy metals leaching into the state’s waterways. Reno Democratic Assemblywoman Sarah Peters and conservation minded Nevadans […]