RENO, Nev. (AP) — Conservationists say they have scored a significant victory in their bid to win Endangered Species Act protection for a desert wildflower at the center of a fight over a proposed lithium mine in Nevada.

The Center for Biological Diversity says the rare order issued Wednesday in Las Vegas underscores the critical condition of Tiehm's buckwheat.

Noah Greenwald of the Center for Biological Diversity says the judge recognized that the plant is on the brink of extinction.

The agency was supposed to decide last October whether to propose federal protection. It had indicated that staff and budgetary constraints would prevent it from deciding until this September.