LAS VEGAS— The Center for Biological Diversity launched a lawsuit today against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to protect a rare Nevada toad and fish whose aquatic habitats may be depleted by groundwater pumping for nearby gold mines, pushing the animals toward extinction.

The Amargosa toad and the Oasis Valley speckled dace only live in a small number of springs along the Amargosa River near Beatty, Nevada. Their fragile habitats are supplied by ancient groundwater aquifers that filled during the last Ice Age.

“We won’t stand idly by and watch a mining company imperil the Amargosa River and push these special animals toward extinction so its shareholders can make a buck,” said Patrick Donnelly, Great Basin director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “The Amargosa toad and Oasis Valley speckled dace are small but powerful symbols of the remarkable biodiversity that makes Nevada so special. At this point the Endangered Species Act is their last line of defense.”

AngloGold Ashanti — one of the world’s largest gold mining companies — has as many as seven gold mining projects under permitting or exploration, encircling the town of Beatty and the Amargosa River. Each gold mine could use billions of gallons of water.

In 2024 the Center filed petitions with the Fish and Wildlife Service to protect the toad and fish under the Endangered Species Act. In early 2025 the Service found that protections for these species may be warranted.

The Service had one year from the petitions’ filings to decide whether to protect the animals under the Endangered Species Act. The agency missed that deadline. Today’s 60-day notice of the Center’s intent to sue is required under the Act.

The toad was originally petitioned for federal protections in 1994 by Jasper Carlton, who founded the Biodiversity Legal Foundation which later merged with the Center. Protections were denied because there was a lack of information about the species. In 2008 the Center filed another petition and protections were again denied because of a collaborative conservation agreement between, among others, federal, state and local agencies working with landowners to reduce threats to the toads.

“Collaborative conservation won’t stop these gold mines from drying up a river,” said Donnelly. “Water is more precious than gold, life is worth more than money and extinction is forever. We won’t rest until the Amargosa toad and the Oasis Valley speckled dace are safe.”