PARK CITY, Utah -- Western governors signed two agreements at their annual meeting here this week aimed at capitalizing on two of the region's most prized amenities: its wildlife and its renewable energy resources.

The problem is, many of the areas eyed for solar, wind and geothermal development -- and the transmission corridors needed to bring that new power to market -- lie within important wildlife habitat.

That geographic reality poses a considerable challenge to the Western Governors' Association as it implements the two agreements, one to identify key corridors essential for the protection of the West's wildlife, and another to establish "Western renewable energy zones," including a crucial network of transmission corridors needed to unlock the region's vast renewable energy potential.

At the WGA's annual meeting, held here June 14-16, the governors, as well as senior Obama administration officials, spoke urgently of the need to tap the West's solar, wind, geothermal, hydropower and biomass resources, while continuing to expand traditional fossil fuel development.

"We're agreeing that we can develop energy in the West in a responsible way, and put in corridors and pipelines so renewables and also hydrocarbons can be delivered to market," Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer (D), an enthusiastic proponent of both renewables and "clean coal," told reporters during the conference. He noted that the West has 70 percent of the country's energy resources, but that a lack of established energy corridors is hindering their development.

The WGA's "phase one" energy initiative report, released jointly by the governors and the Department of Energy, maps out the region's prime renewable energy development areas, from the Southwest's sun-scorched deserts to the Northern Rockies' windy plains.

But the very elements that make the West rich in renewable energy potential also provide valuable habitat for some of the nation's most treasured or imperiled species, including the sage grouse, lesser prairie chicken, mule deer, pronghorn and desert tortoise.

"If we don't find the right way to do this, we'll disrupt wildlife habitat, we'll disrupt agriculture, we'll disrupt the entire environment," warned Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal (D) during the governors' discussion of the Western renewable energy zone initiative.

"Transmission is one of the most significant issues in America, and it's a challenge here in the West -- it's a challenge that intersects with siting, with wildlife," added Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter (D) in a later discussion with reporters.

Conflicting priorities

As part of a broader climate strategy adopted in 2006, the WGA has set a goal of bringing an additional 30,000 megawatts of clean energy online by 2015 and facilitate the construction of transmission lines needed to transport that power to market within 25 years. The renewable energy initiatives are driven by what many fear will be the lasting effects of a warming climate, including significant droughts, reduced snowpack, faster runoff, altered precipitation patterns, excessively hot-burning forest and rangeland fires, warmer temperatures and spreading forest diseases.

Energy Secretary Steven Chu reiterated those concerns this week at the WGA meeting. "I think the West is going to suffer more than the East," he told the governors.

The WGA's "phase one" report includes assurances that the renewable resource areas it identifies will be categorized "based on their level of biological sensitivity" and that crucial habitat will be avoided when possible.

WGA's energy staff is also working with the Western Governors' Wildlife Council, composed of members of state wildlife agencies, to come up with ways to measure the biological sensitivity of renewable resource sites and figure out how to mitigate the effects of solar, wind, geothermal and other energy development projects in those areas.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar (second from left) spoke about "unleashing this great potential" of renewable energy development on federal lands at the annual meeting of the Western Governors' Association in Utah. Photo courtesy of the Interior Department

"Private industry wants to move fast, and all the states aren't quite ready," said John Harja, chairman of WGA's wildlife council, who also works for the state of Utah's lands policy office. "Some states have the data [on key wildlife areas], others don't yet. It's very much a work in progress."

Steve Belinda, energy initiative manager for the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership and a former wildlife biologist with the Bureau of Land Management in Wyoming, said the potential overlap between wildlife corridors and energy corridors is considerable. "The blank spots on the maps for traditional energy development are the hot spots for renewables," said Belinda, who attended the meeting. "We may end up affecting the resources that we love."

At some point, some tough choices will have to be made, Belinda added. "What we're not saying is, 'How much are we willing to sacrifice?'"

Even so, there are ways to avoid conflicts with wildlife in developing renewable energy resources and transmission capacity, he said.

Ileene Anderson, a biologist with the Center for Biological Diversity, which routinely files lawsuits against the federal government over energy projects it believes harm wildlife, agreed.

"I'm happy that WGA is recognizing the opportunities that we have for both things to work," said Anderson, who was not at the meeting. "I do think it's possible to have both. But there will be some sacrifices, too. And that's the hard part."

Unique challenges

It is particularly hard in Southern California, where abundant sunshine creates ideal conditions to develop large-scale solar power. But the region is also prime habitat for scores of at-risk species, some of them threatened or endangered.

"Essentially, in Southern California, you can't put any renewable energy project here without nailing the desert tortoise or the flat-tailed horned lizard," said Anderson, who lives in Los Angeles. The tortoise is listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Last month, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the Fish and Wildlife Service to reconsider its decision not to list the lizard as an endangered species (Land Letter, May 21).

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R), a strong proponent of climate change initiatives within WGA, spearheaded California's 2006 initiative to produce 33 percent of the state's electricity from renewable energy sources. More than 100 renewable energy projects have since been proposed for the Mojave Desert region, most of them solar projects. Those new facilities will require the construction of thousands of miles of transmission lines to bring power to customers hundreds of miles away (Land Letter, Feb. 5).

Meanwhile, the federal government is running up against its own wildlife hurdles as it maps out energy corridors under mandates in the 2005 Energy Policy Act. The Interior Department has identified 6,000 miles of transmission corridors across 11 Western states as part of its "West-wide Energy Corridor" initiative on federal lands.

The Gateway West project, for instance, which would string new transmission lines across 1,200 miles in Wyoming and Idaho, has drawn fire from environmental groups for its potential effects on sage grouse habitat on BLM lands (Land Letter, Aug. 21, 2008). Similar transmission projects proposed by DOE for the Southwest and Northeast have also spurred concerns about impacts to wildlife (Land Letter, Jan. 10, 2008). A lawsuit filed by environmental groups over potential harm to 95 threatened and endangered species is still pending.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, whose department oversees 193 million acres of national forests and grasslands, said his office recognizes "the importance these energy corridors will play in the region and the country," noting that 990 miles of newly proposed transmission corridors identified by the federal government are on Forest Service lands. "There are always environmental and recreational issues," he said.

But Schweitzer, the Montana governor, said the states have taken a more proactive approach than the federal government in meeting the needs for both wildlife and energy development.

"We'll establish wildlife corridors before energy corridors," he told E&E. "I think the governors have been very forward-looking in protecting our wildlife." That said, he added that it will be "tricky" to sidestep important wildlife habitat when designating renewable energy development areas.

According to a report issued by WGA staff last year, habitat loss and fragmentation are contributing factors in 83 percent of U.S. species whose populations are shrinking. The addition of thousands of miles of new energy corridors, if not designed with habitat impacts in mind, could mean more fragmentation, officials say. Hunting, fishing and wildlife watching, which pumps $40 million into Western economies, according to WGA, could suffer, as well (Land Letter, July 3, 2008).

'Fast-tracking' renewables

Yet even with the heightened concern about wildlife impacts, senior federal officials reiterated the Obama administration's commitment to using federal lands to build a new "green energy" infrastructure.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar spoke of "unleashing this great potential on federal lands" and said the agency planned to fast-track renewable energy project applications. "We'll be moving forward with as much vigor as we can to get that done," he said.

Asked later if that could mean short-shrifting environmental reviews, including impacts on wildlife, Salazar said much of the groundwork on identifying important wildlife habitats had already been done by the states, nonprofit organizations and other entities, allowing for faster processing of applications.

BLM, meanwhile, is currently conducting a programmatic environmental impact statement to study the effects of an estimated 400 wind and solar plants proposed for federal lands. If approved, they would cover 2.3 million acres in seven Western states and generate an estimated 70,000 megawatts of electricity -- enough to power more than 50 million homes (Land Letter, Feb. 5).

Currently, there are an estimated 20 wind farms, and there are solar and geothermal energy plants in operation covering 5,000 acres managed by BLM and the Forest Service, plus another three that have been approved and will cover an additional 3,000 acres in Arizona, California, Idaho, Utah and Wyoming.

April Reese writes from Santa Fe, N.M.