U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT NEWS RELEASE
Idaho BLM
Idaho BLM
| Contacts: | Jessica Gardetto (208) 373-4060 |
BLM Defers Final Decision on China Mountain Wind Project
The Idaho Bureau of Land Management (BLM) office announced today that it will defer a final decision on the proposed China Mountain Wind Energy project and suspend work on the Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) until completion of the Idaho/Montana sub-regional sage-grouse EIS/Resource Management Plan amendments and Jarbidge Resource Management Plan revision.
The China Mountain Wind Energy project (the project) is a commercial-scale wind energy proposal sought by China Mountain Wind, LLC, a subsidiary of Renewable Energy Systems Americas, Inc. (RES) and Nevada Energy. It includes 170 turbines that would have an estimated 425 MW of generating capacity and encompass over 25,500 acres of BLM-administered lands and 10,700 acres of State and private lands in south-central Idaho and northern Nevada.
The proposed project is sited within one of two important sage-grouse strongholds essential for the long-term persistence of greater sage-grouse, and it lies within a large preliminary priority habitat area that contains approximately 42 percent of the sage-grouse population in the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies’ sage-grouse management zone IV.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) determined in 2010 that the Greater Sage-Grouse was warranted but precluded from listing under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). In a subsequent stipulated settlement agreement, the Service indicated it would re-evaluate the status of sage-grouse by September 30, 2015.
“The BLM is working nationally and here in Idaho, with partner entities, to conduct analysis and amend our Resource Management Plans (RMPs) to expand and/or include conservation measures to make it unnecessary to list the Greater Sage-grouse under the ESA,” Idaho BLM State Director Steve Ellis said. “We anticipate completing this work in 2014, prior to the Service’s re-evaluation and decision in 2015.”
The BLM completed and released a Draft EIS analyzing the project on April 8, 2011. Comments on the Draft EIS by the Service and both Nevada and Idaho state game management agencies, as well as the Shoshone Basin Sage-grouse Local Working Group, have stated that the project (as proposed in April 2010) could have more than minor adverse effects to sage-grouse due to the importance of the involved habitat, potential habitat fragmentation issues, population impacts, and the unfeasibility of mitigation for these effects on remaining populations.
Ellis said, “It’s important that renewable energy projects be developed in the right way and in the right places. In consideration of our national sage-grouse interim management policy, we believe it wise to defer continued work on the project so that it can be considered in the context of, and informed by, the analyses and decisions in the Idaho Resource Management Plan revisions.”
The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land, the most of any Federal agency. This land, known as the National System of Public Lands, is primarily located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. The BLM's multiple-use mission is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. In Fiscal Year 2012, activities on public lands generated $4.6 billion in revenue, much of which was shared with the States where the activities occurred. In addition, public lands contributed more than $112 billion to the U.S. economy and helped support more than 500,000 jobs.