My question about threatened and endangered species that are only found in one (or a few) locations is, how did they get that way? Was it because they were once plentiful and humans destroyed their habtat or hunted them to near extinction like American Bison, or was it because they're so poorly-adapted that they can only live in one or two places?
If it's the latter and they're occupying a valuable space like a lithium mine, by all means get some seeds, do some transplants in similar habitats, and try to keep them going. But just realize that their predicament is not man-made, and they're already on their way out because they couldn't adapt. So going to great lengths to preserve them, like declaring their habitat off-limits to essential human activities is a fool's errand unless they have some intrinsic value, as in medicine.
ANd realize that there are more extinct species in the fossil record than there are current species. Not a lot we can do about that.
Of course I'm no biologist, but I have tramped, camped, prospected and explored the hell out of the Silver Peak Range, the geology, soil, weather and flora of that country is not varied. If you fell asleep in one part, woke up 50 miles away, you would be clueless. I am guessing that the Tiehm's Buckwheat is of so little interest that there has been no great effort to locate all the places it may be found. I would trust a Mexican cartel coyote before I trusted the enviro whackos.
