As federal protections change, Nevada’s endangered species face new uncertainty
The Dixie Valley toad’s only known habitat is a 760-acre wetland fed by hot springs in a remote part of Churchill County, about 130 miles east of Reno. When the species, a descendant of toads that lived in the Great Basin’s marshes and lakes during the last ice age, was listed under the Endangered Species Act in 2022, federal agencies identified groundwater pumping as one of several threats to its survival. Now, those threats may become harder to address. On July 10, the federal government rescinded the definition of “harm” in the Endangered Species Act that has prevented habitat destruction that would affect a species’ chances of survival. The move has reignited a decades-long debate about what it means to protect an endangered species, which could have far-reaching ramifications for listed species in Nevada like the Dixie Valley toad.
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