Saving Dixie Valley Toads

For generations, Nevada’s big-eyed, black-freckled Dixie Valley toads thrived in a small desert oasis, hidden from humans. But by the time scientists described them in 2017, the species was already imperiled. The very landscape that makes the Dixie Valley ideal for these animals also draws development. We’re fighting to save them from a geothermal-energy plant that would destroy their home.

Background

This species’ habitat in the Dixie Valley Playa lies within the arid Great Basin. But the toads live in unique wetlands dotting the western edge of the Dixie Valley Playa, fed by hot springs — which also make prime real estate for geothermal-energy plants. And a new plant may soon be built just outside these toads’ habitat.

These tiny toads are already threatened by invasive species, disease, climate change, groundwater extraction, and livestock grazing. An energy plant near their habitat could dry up the springs they need to survive, driving them to extinction.

Our Campaign

The Center has been working to save Dixie Valley toads since the year biologists first described them. In 2017 we petitioned the federal government to protect the toads under the Endangered Species Act on an emergency basis. After we sued, in 2022 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service granted that protection — and later that year made it permanent.

At the same time we’ve been pushing to save the toads’ habitat from the Dixie Meadows geothermal plant. We’ve gone to court — in 2021 with the help of the Fallon Paiute-Shoshone Tribe, for whom the area’s hot springs are sacred — to halt the plant’s construction. But that fight is far from over.

We won’t stop striving to save these unique amphibians and their home.

Check out our press releases to learn more about the Center's actions for Dixie Valley toads.