5 alternatives show BLM lands set aside for solar projects in Nevada, western US

Greg Haas
·4 min read

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Five alternatives shown during a public meeting on Tuesday showed choices for protecting more — or less — land from solar energy development in Nevada and surrounding states.

The Bureau of Land Management presented the alternatives as they prepare to adjust the Western Solar Plan, a major initiative in the federal government’s goal to develop utility-scale renewable energy to meet a 2035 goal of a net-zero energy grid. The meeting was at Red Rock Casino Resort & Spa.

Nevada is at the heart of the plan. The BLM controls 63% of land in the state, 48 million acres in all.

Nevada among 11 states impacted by federal solar plan

Alternative 1 would open the most public land to development of solar projects, about 55 million acres across the West. The amount of land for development diminishes in the other alternatives, to a low of 8.4 million acres in Alternative 5.

The video below shows the progression of lands available in each of the five alternatives, starting with Alternative 5 (the lowest amount) and ending with Alternative 1 (the highest amount). The land shaded in light pink represents land excluded from development; dark pink is land excluded because it is more than 10 miles from transmission lines; finally, land shaded in green would be available for development.

See the maps online at https://blm-egis.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=22df2b327e0c49c3a9afb67de5ca658d

Just because land is available doesn’t mean it will be immediately developed. A BLM document indicates a projected need for 700,000 acres for solar development. But the choice will guide decisions in the years ahead.

A brief description of each choice was outlined in a BLM fact sheet presented at Tuesday’s meeting.

  • Alternative 1: (55 million acres) Resource-based exclusions only. Certain areas with cultural, environmental, or other sensitive resources would be excluded from solar energy development.

  • Alternative 2: (36 million acres) Adds exclusions for areas with slopes greater than 10%.

  • Alternative 3: (22 million acres) Adds exclusions for areas more than 10 miles from existing or planned transmission lines.

  • Alternative 4: (11 million acres) Adds exclusions for areas that haven’t already been “disturbed” by previous development, placing protections on “intact” lands. This alternative does not include restrictions based on distance from transmission lines in Alternative 3.

  • Alternative 5: (8.4 million acres) The most restrictive choice would exclude lands that fall under any of the previous alternatives.

The BLM has already publicly stated its preference for Alternative 3.

Patrick Donnelly of the Center for Biological Diversity identified flaws in BLM’s alternatives. He noted the absence of exclusion zones based on conflicts with protected or endangered species. The alternatives leave open “truly outrageous places for solar development,” he said in a Monday newsletter.

Donnelly favors Alternative 5, but he said none of the choices goes far enough. He called out BLM’s approach to exclusion zones, listing a handful of habitats that were ignored — the Amargosa Desert surrounding the Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, Arizona Strip lands adjacent to the Grand Canyon, two major migratory bird habitats and migration routes used by wildlife in Wyoming.

“This is just a sampling of some of the totally inappropriate places BLM wants to leave open to solar energy development because of their extremely limited vision for the exclusion zones,” Donnelly said. “We are going to be pushing back hard on this front, and proposing additional exclusion criteria to keep the most sensitive places off the table for solar energy development.”

Some in attendance on Tuesday echoed those concerns. One man suggested that even if BLM goes with Alternative 3, it should guide development to lands that had already been disturbed first before allowing further development.

But mostly people criticized the BLM, saying the agency doesn’t listen to the public. Some expressed frustration with the process and wanted a meaningful way to be heard.

While solar developers were quiet during the BLM’s presentation and a brief Q and A, they were present at the meeting. One San Diego-based developer said it’s not just about the maps. The alternatives also guide the technology used to produce solar power by the rules they establish.

For more information about the updated Western Solar Plan, see BLM’s Solar Program website.

The public can submit written comments through April 18, 2024.

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