BLM Declared 50 Million Acres Of Public Land In Nevada Open For Solar Development

The BLM (Bureau of Land Management) designated 50 million acres of public land in Nevada for solar development. The specified area reportedly included the majority of Bunkerville, the town where Bundy ranch owned by Cliven Bundy is located.

A map of the “Proposed Solar Energy Zones” created by the BLM in 2010 revealed that more than 70 percent of Nevada was “open to applications” for the lease of public lands for solar projects, the Washington Free Beacon reports. According to the report, the BLM was seeking Solar Development Program applications for 9.6 million acres of federal public lands in Nevada were on immediate offer. An additional 40.8 million acres were also to become available, but not action has yet been taken on the initiative.

In 2012 the Interior Department released this statement about solar projects on public lands:

“When President Obama took office, there were no solar projects permitted on public lands. Since 2009, Interior has approved 17 utility-scale solar energy projects that, when built, will produce nearly 5,900 megawatts of energy – enough to power approximately 1.8 million American homes. Thanks to steps already taken by this administration, renewable energy from sources such as wind and solar have doubled since the president took office.”

“The Obama administration has deemed more than 19 million acres of public lands managed by the BLM as having “excellent solar energy potential” in Nevada, California, New Mexico, Utah, Arizona, and Colorado. What the solar energy zones means for ranchers in western states that have used the lands for grazing to provide beef to grocery stores across the country, remains to be seen. The BLM report has led some to wonder if the program coincides with the United Nations biodiversity Agenda 21 plan. Although touted as a sustainable communities plan, a growing number of rural residents fear they will be pushed of both public and private property and ushered into urban area as a part of the “conservation of resources” concept of the non-binding UN resolution.”

The Solar Energy Zones (SEZ) map came before the final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for solar development in six southwestern states. The map noted an “initial set” of 17 projects on approximately 285,000 acres of federally owned public lands.

Bureau of Land Management representative Craig Leff stated that there was absolutely “no connection between the Bundy ranch standoff of the “gathering” of Cliven Bundy’s cattle and the Nevada solar energy development plans. The Dry Lake Solar Energy Zone will reportedly comprise 15,649 acres of northeast of Las Vegas, in the vicinity of Bunkerville.

The East Mormon Mountain SEZ was slated to be built on 8,968 acres of public lands 13 miles outside of Bunkerville. The plans were scrapped in 2012 when an environmental impact statement for the project noted the “visual impacts” that the solar plant would have on the Mormon Mountains landscape. The solar project would have reduced the grazing area in Clark County, where Bunkerville and the Bundy ranch are located, by 9.1 percent.

The BLM hosted four workshops to prepare a “mitigation strategy report” for the Dry Lake solar project and featured a presentation by Brightsource Energy. The company garnered a $1.6 billion loan guarantee from the Energy Department for a California solar farm. Brightsource CEO John Woolard has been a frequent White House visitor and reportedly donated $2,400 to Senate Majority Leader and Nevada Democratic Senator, Harry Reid.

Attorney and author John Hinderaker argues that the Obama administration places a higher priority on “green energy projects” then it does on ranchers and public lands.

Hinderaker also had this to say about BLM use of public lands:

“It is obvious that some activities are favored by the Obama administration’s BLM, and others are disfavored. The favored developments include solar and wind projects. No surprise there: the developers of such projects are invariably major Democratic Party donors. Wind and solar energy survive only by virtue of federal subsidies, so influencing people like Barack Obama and Harry Reid is fundamental to the developers’ business plans. Ranchers, on the other hand, ask nothing from the federal government other than the continuation of their historic rights. It is a safe bet that Cliven Bundy is not an Obama or Reid contributor.”

What do you think about solar energy projects on public lands and the ongoing battle between the BLM and ranchers?

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