Local governments in Nevada are seeking a permit from the Department of the Interior to kill endangered species so they can “develop” 200,000 acres of desert habitat.
Nevada’s Clark County and the cities of Boulder City, Henderson, Las Vegas, Mesquite, and North Las Vegas were authorized in 2001 to destroy 145,000 acres of fragile desert habitat. That is, they have permission to “take” 78 species of animals and plants – including the threatened desert tortoise – in order to further develop the overbuilt Nevada desert.
But they want more.
Although the local governments’ existing Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan (MSHCP) – which is a USFWS requirement for entities whose activities will harass, harm or kill threatened species – gives the governments authorization to destroy 145,000 acres of the Nevada desert, they are seeking a permit for an additional 200,000 acres.
And experts warn there is not enough water to sustain such an aggressive development plan.
Local governments vs. renewable energy development
According to the Center for Biological Diversity, these local governments and renewable energy development are actually competing against each other in the pursuit of permits to harm and kill species. Rob Mrowka, Nevada conservation advocate with the Center, questions the ethics of the local governments and hopes the right policy decision is made.
Given the remaining acres where killing of endangered species is already permitted, and in light of the growing shortage of water to support a desert community, one is led to questioning the wisdom and rationality of the local governments’ decision to pursue this course of action to facilitate unsustainable growth in the Valley …
There is only so much conservation can do to mitigate the habitat destruction. The real policy question for local, state, and nationally elected officials is: Do we need more unsustainable growth in an already overbuilt desert, or do we need clean, renewable energy to free us from the burdens and cost of foreign oil and dirty coal?
Current water supply will last only if growth rate is less than 2 percent
In a recent interview of UNLV hydrology professor Sajjad Ahmad in the Las Vegas Sun, Dr. Ahmad stated that current water supplies can’t keep up with growth.
Assuming growth moves forward at 2 percent a year or more, no, we don’t have enough water over the long term. Especially when you factor in the climate change impacts on the Colorado River basin and the drought. Even if every Las Vegan had water-smart appliances in every house and replaced all the grass with desert landscaping, our models show there wouldn’t be enough from current supplies to keep up with growth. You can’t conserve enough to match that increased demand.
The local governments’ permit to destroy another 200,000 acres is in preparation for annual growth rates of up to 4 percent over the next decade.
To take a closer look, you can download a copy of Clark County’s “take” permit and other pertinent documents on their Desert “Conservation” Program page.
The Department of the Interior’s announcement in tomorrow’s Federal Register will initiate the 30-day public comment period.
Image source: flickr.com / CC BY 2.0
About Rhishja Cota-Larson
WHAT IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!!! IT THE PEOPLE THAT ARE TRYING TO GET THIS DONE THAT SHOULD BE KILLED TO SPARE US ALL OF THEIR STUPIDITY AND SELFISHNESS!!!! i always said that no one deserves to die but some people DO deserve to die and these people are some of them. I would like to mow down their neighborhoods and put a nice old landfill in their backyards because the amount of garbage that we will consume will increase tremendously with that extra 4%. It’s scary how stupid people are sometimes.