FILE - A Dixie Valley toad sits atop grass in Dixie Valley, Nev., on April 6, 2009. The tiny Nevada toad at the center of a legal battle over a geothermal project has officially been declared an endangered species after U.S. wildlife officials temporarily listed it on a rarely-used emergency basis in the spring of 2022.
“We're pleased that the Biden administration is taking this essential step to prevent the extinction of an irreplaceable piece of Nevada's special biodiversity,” said Patrick Donnelly, Great Basin regional director for the Center for Biological Diversity. Officials for the Reno-based developer, Ormat Technology, said the service's decision was “not unexpected” given the emergency listing in April. In recent months, the company has been working with the agency and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to modify the project to increase mitigation for the toad and reduce any threat to its survival.
Ormat Vice President Paul Thomsen said in an email to The Associated Press on Thursday that the company disagrees with the wildlife service's “characterization of the potential impacts” of its project as a basis for the listing decision. He said it doesn't change the ongoing coordination and consultation already under way to minimize and mitigate any of those impacts “regardless of its status under the Endangered Species Act.