Environmental group serves notice to sue federal agencies over Nevada plan

The Center for Biological Diversity today served notice on two federal agencies that it intends to challenge a government plan for managing a wide swath of public lands in east-central Nevada. The notice puts the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on notice that the center plans to sue over the Ely Resource Management Plan that covers about 11.5 million acres of public lands in White Pine, Lincoln and part of Nye counties, said Amy Atwood with the Center for Biological Diversity. The plan covers ongoing activities such as off-road vehicles, grazing, mining and power plants, Atwood said. "The Ely Resource Management Plan commits to ecological disaster," said Atwood, senior attorney and public lands energy director at the center. "It perpetuates off-road vehicle use in desert tortoise critical habitat and does nothing to promote conservation and recovery of the many rare species in the planning area. And the power plants authorized by the plan would be totally inconsistent with the need to phase out coal immediately."...Las Vegas Sun