‘Protection … is not negotiable’: Nevada town rallies for mining pause near Ash Meadows

AMARGOSA VALLEY — On their way into the Amargosa Valley Community Center Thursday afternoon, two Bureau of Land Management officials passed under a sign that read: “Our Water is Our Future Protect the Amargosa.”

In Amargosa Valley, a small Nye County town of about 1,400, the sign represents the through line that has captured the attention of homeowners: water.

Since a lithium prospecting company staked hundreds of claims that circle its boundaries, town residents have expressed deep concern for the outlook of life in the Amargosa Desert, where groundwater wells are the primary source of drinking water. The town is a stone’s throw from the delicate, groundwater-dependent Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge — the future of which may hinge on whether the Trump administration approves a 20-year pause on new mining claims.

“BLM said to us: ‘These mining groups have the right to drill, according to Nevada state law,’” said Nye County Commissioner Bruce Jabbour, whose district encompasses Ash Meadows and many of the towns that rely on the Amargosa River. “And I said: ‘Excuse me. I understand that. However, all of the residents that are affected by Basin 230 have the right to survive and live off of this beautiful resource that we call water.’”

About 100 people rallied on Thursday afternoon at the Amargosa Valley Community Center to show their support for the proposed “mineral withdrawal” around the refuge, which would prevent any new mining claims but not affect existing ones.

In the Biden administration’s final days, residents, the local Timbisha Shoshone tribe and environmentalists celebrated an initial approval that granted a temporary, two-year suspension of any new mining claims.

Officials from the Bureau of Land Management hosted a public meeting at the community center following the rally. The meeting was meant to solicit public input about the proposal for a 20-year pause.

The withdrawal under consideration would span about 309,000 acres, and it could take up to two years for a final determination to be made, the BLM officials said.

A long road

The grassroots campaign to keep exploratory lithium drilling out of the region was started by the Amargosa Conservancy, a nonprofit dedicated to preservation of the Amargosa River that flows from the town of Beatty westward into Death Valley National Park.

Creating the group was a response to hundreds of mineral claims staked by prospecting company Rover Critical Minerals, a Canadian company that sought federal approval to find out if enough lithium was below the surface. A company executive told town residents that the plan was to later sell off the mineral claims to a bigger company.

“This river kept me alive, and I think we should repay the favor,” said Claire Watkins, an Amargosa Valley native who said she grew up playing volleyball at the community center she testified in.

Some have hoped federal protections for Devils Hole pupfish, one of Ash Meadows’ 12 protected species that is thought to be the rarest fish in the world, would work in their favor. Rover executives and its hired hydrologist have repeatedly denied that drilling would affect Ash Meadows, but other groups have conducted a separate hydrological analysis that suggests otherwise.

Members of the coalition met with Interior Department officials in Washington, D.C., last year after collecting letters of support from Nevada’s congressional delegation, a Nevada interim legislative committee and the Nye County Commission. The coalition said it is planning another trip to meet with the Trump administration to see the withdrawal through.

So far, the coalition has been successful. It was only after Amargosa Conservancy filed a lawsuit in 2023 against an earlier version of Rover’s project that the BLM rescinded its approval of exploratory drilling.

“Thankfully, the communities, many of which are present here tonight, responded,” said Mason Voehl, executive director of the Amargosa Conservancy. “The project was like a lightning bolt hitting the river, waking everyone up to the realization that the future of this region is only as secure as the water that flows through it.”

‘Let’s tell a story’

Following the public input session, BLM Pahrump Field Office manager Nicholas Pay said he’s a native Nevadan who grew up in a town similar to Amargosa Valley. He thanked residents for being respectful and allowing him to collect pertinent information that he can pass along to the relevant officials.

“We don’t know what politics is going to do, and my job is to keep it out of this,” Pay told the crowd. “So let’s tell a story.”

Under the second Trump administration, agencies that manage public lands and water have been the subject of mass firings in an effort to reduce federal spending. About 800 BLM employees have been let go across the nation since Trump took office, according to a Reuters report.

Trump, during his campaign, promised to prioritize oil drilling on public lands. His Interior Department secretary has ordered a review of national monuments designated under past presidents and may recommend boundary reductions — a departure from the Biden administration, where the former president issued formal conservation status for about 674 million acres of public lands and water, more than any other president in history.

The partisan politics of public lands management have left some to wonder whether such a mineral withdrawal could be approved under Trump.

About 25 people spoke publicly in support of the mineral withdrawal in Amargosa Valley, some of them having traveled from as far as Palm Springs, California. At least one expressed preference for a permanent withdrawal.

Jack Hamm, who said he owns one of the 791 existing mineral claims that are in the withdrawal area, had a clear message for officials about the importance of water in the desert and his role in preserving it.

“I would be honored to relinquish my claim to further the protection of the Amargosa Desert,” Hamm said. “The loss of this delicate place would be a terrible day. Protection of the Amargosa is not negotiable, and this withdrawal must be passed.”

Contact Alan Halaly at ahalaly@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlanHalaly on X.