The Bureau of Land Management on Friday approved a huge wind project on public lands in southern Idaho that’s opposed by lawmakers and some historical preservation advocates.
BLM published a record of decision for Lava Ridge, a wind farm of up to 231 turbines that’s been a priority for the agency’s renewable energy push under President Joe Biden. The president ordered the Interior Department to help deploy 25 gigawatts of electricity from wind, solar and geothermal energy public lands by 2025.
BLM acknowledged in its record of decision that Lava Ridge could alter views at the Minidoka National Historic Site, where thousands of Japanese Americans were held during World War II. The National Park Service runs that site, which advocates have said is meant to convey the isolation of the remote Idaho location where people were forcibly relocated to during the war.
Idaho Republican Sen. Jim Risch slammed the record of decision Friday. He has vowed to work with the incoming Trump administration to kill the project.
“Today’s decision on Lava Ridge flies in the face of the people of Idaho,” he said in a statement. “Despite the outcry from Idahoans and the broader Japanese American community, the Biden-Harris White House refuses to listen. Instead, this administration will spend its final days attempting to inflict irreversible damage on Southern Idaho and the Minidoka National Historic Site.”
BLM has said it can mitigate the impact the wind farm will have on the nearby historic site.
The height of turbines will be capped at 660 feet — compared with the original proposal of 740 feet — and be kept at a distance five times the height of the turbines from existing residences. The number of turbines approved is 231, compared with the original 400 proposed. Turbines also must be at least 9 miles away from the Minidoka NHS visitor center, with roughly 70 percent sited more than 12 miles away, according to the record of decision.
BLM said in the record of decision that it will be requiring compensatory mitigation to the Minidoka NHS, because some visual effects from the wind farm construction cannot be fully mitigated.
The record of decision caps the environmental review period for the wind project, but the developers, Magic Valley Energy, cannot officially commence construction until they’ve received a notice to proceed from Interior.
Luke Papez, senior director of project development for LS Power, MVE’s parent company, said last month that BLM’s final environmental review had struck “an appropriate balance between the protection of environmental resources and the need for additional domestic energy production.”
He said at the time: “Our goal is to meet rising energy demand while forging strong relationships and partnerships within the local community. This goal is crucial to ensure sustainable and beneficial development for the Magic Valley region of Idaho.”
The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee last month approved S. 4936, a bill inked by Risch that would block Interior Secretary Deb Haaland from approving Lava Ridge until after the comptroller general finalizes a report on how the wind farm could affect the national park site.
“This is far from over. I will continue to fight Lava Ridge and this abuse of our public lands,” Risch said Friday.
BLM has also been at odds with the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation over the wind project. The council, which advises Congress and the White House on federal actions that could affect historic properties, has agreed the wind farm would harm the viewshed of the Minidoka NHS.
BLM Director Tracy Stone-Manning last month sent a formal response letter to the council chair, Sara Bronin, asserting that BLM can ensure historic properties are not negatively affected by the project.
The Biden administration on Friday also approved the Easley Solar project, which proposed on approximately 2,700 acres of BLM-managed public lands and 990 acres of private lands in Riverside County, California.
The project will produce 390 megawatts of power and provide 650 MW of battery storage capacity.
“Approving Easley Solar represents another significant step demonstrating BLM’s commitment to renewable energy development,” said California Desert District Manager Shelly Lynch.
