Mission

Following the BLM's final environmental review of the energy project, we flew with conservationists, press, Tribal leaders, and the Shoshone-Bannock's Department of Energy Director to view the Lava Ridge Wind site and discuss the decreased project plan.

Wind power is a critical piece to the renewable energy transition, however there are important factors to consider as renewable energy development often stands at odds with conservation. In central Idaho, the BLM has considered these factors to balance ecosystem health with the West’s growing energy demands.

The BLM released their final environmental review of the Lava Ridge Wind Project in June, reducing the number of turbines by 40% and decreasing their maximum allowed height by over 100ft. The new plan avoids impacts to sage grouse, wildlife habitat, and cultural resources, and is in fact, more restrictive than the most conservative alternatives originally examined. It includes changes that better avoid, minimize, and mitigate impacts to cultural sites, viewsheds, and wildlife. Operations will even halt during peak migration periods for mule deer and pronghorn (January through April). The project area has largely already been altered from agriculture, development, vegetation treatments, wildfire, and more. Some of the western half of the project was eliminated to address migration corridors for mule deer and pronghorn. The BLM has sited turbines to avoid 90 and 98 percent of the stopover habitat for mule deer and pronghorn, respectively. However, in some cases the BLM gave little consideration to Tribal cultural resource sites including Wilson Butte Cave.

The Bureau of Land Management’s preferred alternative sets turbines farther from the Minidoka National Historic Site - from 2.5 to 9 miles away; a distance that makes the wind turbines difficult to see from the Minidoka historic site, a WWll Japanese Internment Camp.

This wind project is important to Idaho and the West, and will help the transition away from climate-warming fossil fuels towards renewable energy. Check out Idaho Conservation League's recent blog on the Lava Ridge project for more information.

Click for photos from the flight, aerial GoPro footage, and geo-referenced photos (download and open in Google Earth).