The developer of what would be Wisconsin’s largest solar and battery storage project agreed to make site changes to end a legal challenge by a conservation group over potential impacts to the greater prairie chicken, a threatened species in the state.
The Wisconsin Wildlife Federation, which filed a lawsuit in state district court earlier this year challenging regulatory approval of the project, said in a statement that it plans to withdraw the appeal if the changes are approved by the Wisconsin Public Service Commission.
The Vista Sands project under development by Philadelphia-based Doral Renewables includes 1.3 gigawatts of solar and 300 megawatts of battery storage in central Wisconsin — one of the largest in the Midwest. At issue was the site’s proximity to the Buena Vista Wildlife Area and grasslands used by the greater prairie chickens for nesting and mating.
Greater prairie chickens existed across Wisconsin a century ago. Today, they are found only in four state-managed wildlife areas. Still, their numbers have been in decline thanks in part to the continued loss and fragmentation of habitat.
