Activists are seeking Endangered Species Act protection for an extremely small snail. The tiny, shelled animal is only known to exist in water sources along the Nevada-Oregon border in the western United States. The snail species is called the Kings River pyrg. The Western Watersheds Project sent in the request for protection to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service last week. The Kings River pyrg is a springsnail found in 13 distant springs around 321 kilometers northeast of Reno, Nevada. There are plans to open a huge mine in the area for processing the metal lithium. The Western Watersheds Project says the biggest threat to the snail’s survival is changes to groundwater flows caused by the 113-meter open-air mine. The Bureau of Land Management approved the mine plan last year, but it is currently being disputed in U.S. District Court in Reno. Erik Molvar is a wildlife biologist and executive director of the Western Watersheds Project. He said federal officials put the snail at risk of extinction by quickly approving the large lithium mine.
