Gold Mining on Conglomerate Mesa

June 15, 2018 – Advocates for the West challenged the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) approval of the Perdito Project – a gold mine exploration project that would drill mining holes on Conglomerate Mesa, which is located on California Desert Conservation Lands.

Conglomerate Mesa is a spectacularly wild and remote area of the Inyo Mountains in the Eastern Sierras, near Death Valley National Park and Owens Valley. The Mesa contains Joshua Tree woodlands, precious and imperiled native plant species, and areas protected as Wilderness, Wilderness Study Areas, and Areas of Critical Environmental Concern.

BLM is in violation of the Federal Lands Policy and Management Act, the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan, and the National Environmental Policy Act. By approving this project, the agency disregarded conservation measures for Joshua Tree woodlands and the Inyo rock daisy (an imperiled native plant found in only eight locations worldwide).

BLM also failed to consider drilling impacts to the surrounding wildlands, which will cause unnecessary and undue degradation. The project will impact groundwater supplies and the world-class Night Sky resource of Death Valley National Park.

Advocates for the West filed a petition on behalf of our client, Friends of the Inyo, and a coalition of groups to request an immediate stay of the decision. The stay would offer BLM more time to fully consider the significant ecological impacts of the Perdito Project.

In addition to Friends of the Inyo, our coalition includes California Native Plant Society, California Wilderness Coalition, Center for Biological Diversity, Sierra Club, and the Wilderness Society.

Interested in learning more about our work to protect Special Places in the West? Click here.