Episode 24: Kelly Fuller with Western Watersheds Project

Welcome to the Audible Café!

Today, I'm sharing my conversation with Kelly Fuller, the Energy and Mining Campaign Director for the Western Watersheds Project, which has headquarters in a number of western states. We talked about the proposed lithium mine in Thacker Pass, Nevada, a project that WWP and others oppose on the grounds that it will destroy an important ecosystem and habitat for a number of unique species.

"Thacker Pass is critically important to wildlife because it connects the Double H Mountains to the Montana Mountains, and provides lower-elevation habitat that greater sage-grouse and other wildlife need to survive the winter," Fuller has said. "It (the mine area) contains thousands of acres of priority habitat management area (PHMA), the most important type of greater sage-grouse habitat."

Yet, the Bureau of Land Management that manages the land, has exempted the mine from many legally required sage-grouse protections. "The mine is sited in the danger zone for sage-grouse leks in the Montana Mountains, one of the most important sage-grouse strongholds in Nevada. Local springs are the only place in the world where the Kings River pyrg, a rare type of springsnail, are known to live. The mine could also cut off a pronghorn migration corridor," wrote Fuller in response to the mine's approval.

About Kelly Fuller

Prior to WWP, Kelly worked on energy campaigns in more than two dozen states. Most recently she was Executive Director of Gila Watershed Partnership of Arizona and The Protect Our Communities Foundation. She has also worked for American Bird Conservatory, Plains Justice, and Voyageurs National Park Association. Kelly is perhaps best known for leading a 78-mile walk across the California desert to protect public lands threatened by a destructive transmission line project. In 2013, Kelly left Washington, D.C. to return home to the west's wide open spaces. Since then she has spent as much time as possible outdoors, enjoying America's beautiful public lands.

Thanks again to Kelly Fuller, and thanks for listening to Audible Café. If you'd like to get directly in touch with me, please email listenup@audiblecafe.com. And please visit the website for archives shows and more info at www.audiblecafe.com. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter, and stay in touch!

SHOW RESOURCES

WesternWatersheds.org

Great Basin Resource Watch - gbrw.org

EarthWorks.org - campaignn for reforming the 1872 mining law

Article in Sierra Nevada Ally newspaper 1/15/21

https://sierranevadaally.org/2021/01/15/blm-approves-thacker-pass-lithium-mine/  In reaction to the mine's approval, Kelly Fuller, energy and mining campaign director for the Western Watersheds Project says the mine "will strip-mine thousands of acres of important habitat for greater sage-grouse and other wildlife."

Protect Thacker Pass website