RENO, Nev. (AP) — Federal wildlife officials have agreed to consider Endangered Species Act protection for a rare toad in northern Nevada's high desert where one of the biggest producers of geothermal energy in the nation wants to build another power plant.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says conservationists have presented "substantial scientific" information suggesting the Dixie Valley toad could be at risk of extinction.
It concluded the Center for Biological Diversity's petition for emergency listing warrants a yearlong examination of the status of the 2-inch-long toad.
It's only found in an area covering less than 3 square miles in the marshy remnant of an ancient dried-up lakebed 100 miles east of Reno.
Federal land managers currently are considering Ormat Technologies' plans to build a geothermal plant there along the border of U.S. Naval Air Station Fallon.
