![]() |
Basin & Range Watch |
||||||||
Defending the Desert A 501(c)(3) Non-profit organization |
|||||||||
![]() |
|||||||||
![]() |
|||||||||
WELCOME Basin and Range Watch is a 501(c)(3) non-profit working to conserve the deserts of Nevada and California and to educate the public about the diversity of life, culture, and history of the ecosystems and wild lands of the desert. Come visit and experience the great beauty of spring wildflowers, vast open vistas, bird watching trails, and wildlife viewing. emailbasinandrange@gmail.com
Are you an academic researcher or news reporter using our website content for your next book, scientific paper, or article? Please give us credit with a reference! Thank you!
|
Basin & Range Watch Celebrates the New Avi Kwa Ame National MonumentSpirit Mountain. SEARCHLIGHT, Nev.— Basin and Range Watch hailed the formation of a new national monument today, as President Biden signed the proclamation under his power using the Antiquities Act, designating Avi Kwa Ame National Monument.
Basin and Range Watch petitioned the Bureau of Land Management to designate Avi Kwa Ame as an Area of Critical Environmental Concern in 2018, after multiple battles to fend off industrial-scale energy projects in the area. Western Watersheds Project and Basin and Range Watch also organized a Bioblitz in 2022 to help document the many species of desert plants and animals here. The hills and broad valleys have come under threat of energy sprawl by both wind and solar project developers. A coalition of local residents and Basin and Range Watch sued the Bureau of Land Management to halt a giant wind project, and successfully prevented its construction on these sensitive habitats. In 2015 District Court Judge Miranda Du vacated the federal permits for construction of the Searchlight Wind Project in Southern Nevada. Judge Du found that environmental analyses prepared by the BLM and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service inadequately evaluated the dangers that the industrial-scale wind project would pose to golden eagles, desert tortoises, and bats. In 2015 a Swedish company submitted an application to BLM to construct another wind facility, the Crescent Peak Wind Project, on 33,000 acres of the Castle Mountains along the California/Nevada boundary and up to the border of the Wee Thump Joshua Tree Wilderness Area. This project would have been mostly within the National Monument boundary. A coalition of environmental groups, tribes, and hunters petitioned the Secretary of the Interior to protect these mountains for bighorn sheep, eagles, and visual resources. In 2018 the Interior Department issued a letter directing BLM to deny the application. Yet the same developer returned with a new wind application on the Castle Mountains, calling it Kulning Wind Project. Objections voiced by tribes and conservation groups about conflicts with land preservation convinced BLM to place this project on a “low priority” status.” Recently, Avantus (formerly 8minute Energy) sought to adjust the monument boundary to accommodate their proposed Angora Solar Project on 2,500 acres, most of which overlaps the boundary of the Monument. In 2018, Basin and Range Watch wrote up a nomination to protect the area as the proposed Castle Mountains Area of Critical Environmental Concern, and gained a wide array of signatories to support the nomination to the Bureau of Land Management. We believe this helped to crystalize a new National Monument campaign in the area. See more >>here. Lake Tamarisk: "Oasis in a Living Desert"March 14, 2023 - Lake Tamarisk, CA - Desert community opposes utility-scale solar projects next to town. Prepared by Candace Ryding, Long Time Resident of Lake Tamarisk The Lake Tamarisk Community got it’s start when Kaiser Steel was in need of housing for their workers, shortly after World War II. The mine operated until early 1982. At that time the population of Lake Tamarisk began to change. See this community page >>here. Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument Paleontological Resources May Block Controversial Greenlink West Transmission Project
^Columbian mammoths and sabertooth cat in spring wetlands at Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument, Nevada, Pleistocene. Drawing by Laura Cunningham, Copyright 2023. March 8, 2023 - Las Vegas, NV - From Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), with help from Basin and Range Watch: Plans for a mega-transmission corridor in Nevada have hit a roadblock in the form of a survey showing that its route through a national park would likely destroy a trove of prehistoric fossils, according to the results of a ground-penetrating survey released today Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). The survey of Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument found the strong likelihood of “vertebrate skeletal elements” in areas along the proposed right-of-way for the planned “Greenlink West” high-voltage system to transmit power from Las Vegas to Reno. When Congress created the Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument in 2014 near Las Vegas to protect invaluable Ice Age paleontological discoveries, it also authorized a nearby electric transmission corridor (now called Greenlink) to carry “primarily… renewable energy resources.” In the intervening years, two things changed: 1) the Greenlink line corridor will serve natural gas facilities; and 2) it has been rerouted to cross the Monument. More >>HERE. March 8, 2023 - Good article by High Country News on the flood of renewable energy projects into the Pacific Northwest. See the article here>> https://www.hcn.org/issues/55.3/indigenous-affairs-green-colonialism-is-flooding-the-pacific-northwest?utm_source=wcn1&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2023-02-28-Newsletter Groups, Tribes Ask Appeals Court to Halt Nevada Lithium MineFebruary 28, 2023 Reno NV - A federal judge last week refused to block the Thacker Pass mine from moving forward while appeals are heard. Red about it here: https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2023/02/28/greens-tribes-ask-appeals-court-to-halt-nevada-lithium-mine-00084699 Conservation Groups Seek Emergency Halt of Destructive Thacker Pass Lithium Mine Pending Court AppealFebruary 21, 2023 - RENO, Nev. – Conservation groups filed an emergency motion in federal court today, asking the court to enjoin the development of the Thacker Pass Lithium Mine until their case can be heard on appeal at the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Earlier this month, Judge Du ruled that the Bureau of Land Management broke the law in approving the mine, but the court’s order didn’t halt development of the enormous open pit mine. Today’s filing requests that the court block ground disturbance and construction until compliance with federal laws is assured. Solar PEIS: One More Virtual Meeting on California and NevadaFebruary 10, 2023 - The Solar Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (Solar PEIS) scoping deadline has been moved to March 1. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) recently put out a press release stating that, “due to substantial public interest, the Bureau of Land Management has added one more virtual session to its series of public scoping meetings seeking input on potential changes to its solar energy program” on February 14. The BLM stated that “the BLM is especially interested to hear comments related to solar energy development in southern California and southern Nevada, given specific expressed interest in the program in those areas,” indicating huge concern over potential changes to the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan, as well as controversial resource conflicts in southern Nevada. More on the Solar PEIS >>here. Idaho Bureau of Land Management Public Meetings on Developing Public Lands For Renewable EnergyFebruary 9, 2023 - Via email from the Bureau of Land Management state office. See here for more, and how to register >>our Solar PEIS page. 2023 Solar Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement UpdateJanuary 10, 2023 - The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is developing an updated plan to guide solar energy development on public lands through an updated Solar Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (Solar PEIS), which will "help accelerate and continue momentum for the clean energy econom" in a statement issued by BLM. The 2012 Solar PEIS will be expanded to all western states, opening up the vast sagebrush habitats to utility-scale solar development. The comment deadline is February 6, 2023. Stay tuned, Basin and Range Watch will be writing extensive comments, and will provide summary points to write in your own public comments. In California, the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan (DRECP) may need to be updated as well in order to conform to the updated Solar PEIS which overlaps. We will be commenting on this. Important links: https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2022371/570 Register for virtual meetings at https://www.blm.gov/2023-solar-programmatic-environmental-impact-statement The Bureau of Land Management is holding a series of public scoping meetings to solicit feedback on the recently announced programmatic environmental impact statement for the BLM’s utility-scale solar energy planning. The BLM is considering updates to its 2012 Western Solar Plan that included six southwestern states—Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah—and is seeking comment regarding expanding its solar planning to include five additional states: Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming. More >>here at our Solar PEIS page. Conservation and Public Accountability Groups to Argue the Illegality of the Proposed Thacker Pass Lithium Mine^Greater sage-grouse hen in Nevada. Photo: Kevin Emmerich. January 4, 2023 - RENO, NV. — On Thursday January 5, 2023, the combined plaintiffs, a coalition of conservation and public accountability groups, Tribes, and Thacker Pass area rancher, will present oral arguments in opposition to the Thacker Pass Lithium Mine Final Environmental Impact Statement and Record of Decision in the District of Nevada, challenging the Bureau of Land Management’s (“Bureau”) approval of the Thacker Pass Lithium Mine. The mine was fast tracked by the Trump Administration and completed its environmental review process in less than one year despite the enormous environmental impact to the nearly 18,000 acres of public land that would be affected by the operation. More >>here. Tracy Stone-Manning Visits Nevada to Listen to Comments on the Avi Kwa Ame National Monument ProposalNovember 17, 2022 - Laughlin, NV - the Bureau of Land Management hosted a public meeting in Clark County, Nevada, to hear from the community about management of the region’s public lands, including a proposal to designate existing public lands as a national monument in southern Nevada. Tribal support was strong. Basin and Range Watch was there, supporting the monument designation. Our notes and photos >>here. Prayers and Calls for Action at the Salton SeaAn Indigenous Peoples’ Day Vigil, Oct 10, 2022 at Desert ShoresDispatch from the Heart of an Environmental and Social Justice Apocalypse by Ruth Nolan, Mojave Desert Literary Laureate, October 20, 2022
Not far from the iconic and uber-popular Joshua Tree National Park and even fewer miles from the world’s most fabled music festival, Coachella, a glaringly overshadowed dark side to the love affair with the desert: the Salton Sea. It hovers surrealistically below sea level in a huge basin in the middle of one of the hottest deserts in the world, in a neglected and little-known corner of southern California that borders Mexico, its waters shrinking daily at an alarming rate. See more >>here. Basin & Range Watch Nominates a New Area of Critical Environmental Concern To Protect Tortoise and Springs^Lush stands of big galleta grass make excellent Mojave desert tortoise habitat, but are threatened by utility-scale solar applications. September 19, 2022, Indian Springs Valley NV - Basin & Range Watch and colleagues are nominating the Cactus Springs Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC) in Clark and Nye Counties, Nevada, north of Indian Springs on Bureau of Land Management land, in order to protect rare plants, cactus diversity, Cactus Springs water resources, and the most significant Mojave desert tortoise connectivity corridor in southern Nevada. Read more here: Cactus Springs ACEC nomination. Environmental Justice in the Desert^Ivanpah Valley CA, Chemehuevi and Fort Mohave Paiute young people at the Spririt Run before the solar projects were built. August 13, 2022 - Recently we have been accused of ignoring Environmental Justice, so we want to set the record straight and highlight our concern for these significant issues. Basin and Range Watch has worked for over a decade to listen to Indigenous voices, protect cultural landscapes, and help low income desert communities to have a voice and participate in the environmental review process for large-scale energy development on public lands surrounding them. Here are some links with a focus on protecting local and low income communities, communities with people of color, and Tribes, that Basin and Range Watch has participated in over the years, and helped organize and fund (such as renting porta-potties for Indigenous-led Spirit Runs on public lands). Blythe, CA, protests and Indigenous Spirit Runs to protect the deserts and cultural resources. Cultural values and sacred sites threaetned by the Palen Solar Project. Palen Solar Project letter by La Cuna de Aztlan Sacred Sites Protection Circle. More >>here. Coalition Letter on the Variance Process for Golden Currant Solar ProjectAugust 9, 2022 - Pahrump NV - The proposed Golden Currant Solar Project is undergoing a Variance Review process and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has recently segregated mineral rights for 2 years to consider an application for a 4,300-acre solar project. A coalition of conservation groups, including the Desert Tortoise Council, Mojave Green, Wildlands Defense, and individuals signed a letter by Basin & Range Watch, see the pdf here. Under the 2012 Solar Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement, Variance Areas of public land outside the designated Solar Energy Zones include about 20 million acres where applications will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. Options to combine federal and non-federal land will be looked at, as well as disturbed lands. Presence of conflicts, such as tortoise density, will also be considered. These applications will undergo public scoping. More >here. Field Trip to Proposed Golden Currant Solar Project SiteJuly 24, 2022 - Pahrump, NV - Basin & Range Watch undertook a field trip and site visit in early July, 2022, to the proposed Golden Currant Solar Project, along the Fornt Site Road off Tecopa Road. We were amazed at how 40-50% of the proposed project site is full of badlands with deep washes and vertical cliff topography--this is not a flat desert landscape. Also, honey mesquite thickets are common in the badland washes and interfluves. The other parts of the site have ancient desert soils and Mojave yuccas. Our photos are >>here. Bureau of Land Management Places Golden Currant Solar Project on Medium Priority SatusJuly 17, 2022 - Pahrump, NV - In November 2020 the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) recieved an application nest to the Yellow Pine Solar Project, called the Sagittarius Solar Project. The BLM placed the application on Medium Priority Ststus (not High Priority) due to resource conflicts. See the Sagittarius (Golden Currant) Prioritization worksheet. The BLM placed this project on what they call "Medium Priority". This does not stop the project, but places other projects on a Higher priority to process the applications. The developers will often lobby and challenge the BLM's decision. Because the Trout Canyon substation is now built and it can carry a large capacity beyond Yellow Pine Solar, there will be demand for about 3 or 4 other projects in this location. There are some factors that will cause BLM to probably reduce the footprint of the project, but it is a real possibility for development. Because it is early in the review, now is the time to tell BLM no. It is close to the Old Spanish Trail. They say they will avoid the mesquite, but they will surround them with solar panels. It is in a high conflict area for Death Valley National Park. Primergy bought the application and renamed it "Golden Currant"--https://primergysolar.com, a subsidiary of Avangrid Renewables. If you track the corporate subsidiary chart through Googling companies, you see that now Primergy/Avangrid have been bought by the giant utility company Iberdrola, based in Spain--famous for wind projects. Iberdrola is a Spanish multinational electric utility company based in Bilbao, Spain. https://www.iberdrola.com/home See the Plan of Development >>here. See more on the Golden Currant Solar Project. Biden Signs Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Into Law^Satellite view of mines and coal power plants in Xinjiang province, China. July 2, 2022 - Washington DC - In some kind of dystopian nightmare out of a science fiction story, on the other side of the planet away from our North American bubble, 1 million Uyghur ethnic group people are slaving away to mine sand and refine it into polysilicon wafers in high-energy-use factories for the global photovoltaic solar panel industry--half of all polysilicon comes from this Gobi Desert forced labor factory region in eastern China, powered by coal plants spewing out tons of CO2 emissions without regulation. Bloomberg reporters were denied access in 2021, see link below. While environmental groups proclaim they are fighting for social justice, and the renewable enrgy industry claims solar is cheaper than ever, problems arise as other parts of the world are discovered to use totalitarian methods to reap profits while exploiting ethnic groups using forced labor and genocide. This is not "green" energy, and must be stopped. This investigative journalism also reveals the high energy cost needed to manufacture high-grade polysilicon for solar panels--fossil fuel is burned without regulation to supply energy to these factories. Basin and Range Watch supports rooftop solar and solar panels on parking lot canopies, on disturbed lands, and not on ecosystems. We absolutely do not support solar panel manufacture by forced labor and genocide of the Uyghur people. We hope other avenues of solar supply chains can pay workers a fair living wage. Good news on stopping the US import of solar panels from China with polysilicon produced by Uyghur slave-labor, as Congress agrees and President Biden signs the bipartisan bill into law preventing the import of solar panels from certain Chinese companies that use polysilicon components from these forced labor factories in Xinjiang province: The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Goes into Effect | Center for Strategic and International Studies - June 27, 2022 https://www.csis.org/analysis/uyghur-forced-labor-prevention-act-goes-effect If other countries don't also halt import of these solar supplies, then the US solar companies should be fine in their supply chains. But if other countries start cracking down on importing slave-made solar compments, then we beleive there could be a shortage of solar panels in the US. In Broad Daylight Uyghur Forced Labour in the Solar Supply Chain | Sheffield Hallam University Study the Bloomberg 2021 article with detailed background on this horrible slave labor problem, with quote from Dr. Dustin Mulvaney, a Basin and Range Watch advisor: Bloomberg: China’s Xinjiang Solar Factories Haunted by Labor Abuse Claims https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2021-xinjiang-solar/ Proposed Golden Currant Solar Project in Pahrump Valley Moves Forward^Map of the proposed project in red outline, from the Plan of Development. The yellow shapes are the approved Yellow Pine Solar Project under construction. July 2, 2022 - Pahrump, Nevada - Pretty name. But an ugly energy project proposed on public lands on tortoise habitat and Mojave Desert ecosystems. This is the former Sagittarius Solar Project in Clark County, west of the Yellow Pine Solar Project now under construction. Golden Currant Solar is proposed on 4,300 acres of desert tortoise habitat in south Pahrump Valley, NV, along the Tecopa Road. The Bureau of Land Management will segregate the identified lands for two years from appropriation under the public land laws, including location under the Mining Law, subject to valid existing rights. This means no one will be able to stake a new mining claim, in order to help streamline the environmental review of this large solar project. More >>here. https://www.blm.gov/press-release/land-segregation-announced-golden-currant-solar-project Proposed Bonanza Solar Project on High Quality Mojave Desert Habitat"The Most Critical Desert Tortoise Connectivity Corridor in Southern Nevada" ^The limestone fans here are habitat for a diversity of Mojave Desert succulents: Mojave yucca, silver cholla, and calico cactus. June 18, 2020 - Las Vegas, NV - A large, over 2,000-acre, solar energy project is proposed to be built just north of Cactus Springs on land managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in Clark County, Nevada. The site is on the alluvial fans along the eastern side of the Spring Range. The project would harm fragile desert wildlife, remove thousands of desert plants like Mojave yuccas, impact the desert tortoise, destroy archeology sites, create dust, fence off public land, and be visually unsightly. This is Mojave desert tortoise habitat, and once again as the species is heading towards extinction in the wild, the proposal to build the solar project anyway and translocate tortoises is being pushed. Yet the agencies acknowledge there are impacts. From the Medium Priority letter whereby BLM determined this area has significant challenges associated with building a utility-scale solar project: See more on the Bonaza Solar Project >>here. Southern Nevada Renewable Energy Projects UpdateJune 9, 2022 - Las Vegas, NV - The Southern Nevada District of Bureau of Land Management released this slide deck in PDF form of a useful summary of all solar and wind applications in Clark County and Nye County south of Beatty. See the BLM Southern Nevada District Renewable Energy Program Update PDF. Amargosa Valley Solar ProjectsJune 8, 2022 - Amargosa Valley, NV - The Bureau of Land Management Pahrump Field Office released a map showing the huge number of solar applications filling up, and overlapping, in Amargosa Valley public lands. The original Amargosa Solar Energy Zone was supposed to be the place for solar energy development here, but solar developers have taken advantage of loopholes in the Variance process where they can apply for public lands outside of the Solar Energy Zone and still profit. More >>here. On a related note, you can comment on the Amargosa Solar Energy Zone leasing. https://www.blm.gov/press-release/blm-seeks-comments-amargosa-valley-solar-energy-zone-leasing Rough Hat Clark Solar Project Moves Forward^Joshua tree on the proposed site of the Rough Hat Clark Solar Project. June 7, 2022 - Pahrump, NV - The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced today that the 400-megawatt Rough Hat Clark Solar Project on 2,400 acres of public land just south of Pahrump, in Clark County, is moving forward in its application phase to an environmental review. Last winter BLM held a virtual Variance Process determination meeting, where the agency assessed whether this large-scale solar project should be allowed to be built outside of an established Solar Energy Zone. BLM determined that it could. Now BLM will prepare an Environmental Impact Statement and seek public comment. We made several site visits to this alluvial fan, and it is high quality Mojave desert tortoise habitat and contains Joshua trees. Both can be moved out of the way of energy development. Recreational access will be cut off with 8-foot tall chainlink fences, and dust pollution will be a potential looming problem. Water will be needed to try to suppress dust during construction--where will that come from? The project is proposed for the west side of highway 160 close to the boundary of Nye County in south Pahrump Valley. Stay tuned for more information as the scoping process begins for this utility-scale solar project by Candela Renewables, LLC--a company out of Spain. More on Rough Hat Clark and Rough Hat Nye solar projects >>here. Here is the announcement: https://www.blm.gov/press-release/blm-advances-rough-hat-clark-county-solar-project-application BLM ADVANCES ROUGH HAT CLARK COUNTY SOLAR PROJECT APPLICATION
The Rough Hat Clark County Solar Project is a proposed 400 MW utility-scale photovoltaic solar power generation and battery storage facility on approximately 2,400 acres of BLM-managed public land located in the Pahrump Valley in Clark County, southeast of the Town of Pahrump and approximately 38 miles west of Las Vegas. “After careful consideration, the BLM will continue processing the application and proceed with initiation of the National Environmental Policy Act process,” said Shonna Dooman, Las Vegas Field Office Manager. “Stakeholder engagement efforts by the BLM identified potential concerns and we will use this information during the environmental review for the Rough Hat Clark County Solar Project.” The BLM hosted two virtual information forums in December 2021 to provide interested parties with a description of the application evaluation process, including the variance process, on the proposed project. The BLM provided opportunities for input from the public and federal, state, and local agencies, and initiated government to government consultation with Tribes, including conducting field trips. The next step is to publish the Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement, which will kick off the public scoping process and comment period. Comments submitted during the initial evaluation will be further considered during the National Environmental Policy Act process for the project. Proceeding with processing the Rough Hat Clark County Solar Project does not render project approval or otherwise entitle the applicant in any way, nor does it create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or equity by a party against the United States, its departments, agencies, instrumentalities or entities, its officers or employees, or any other person. The variance determination and supporting documentation, including the Input Summary Report, and additional information for the Rough Hat Clark County Solar Project can be found at https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2019992/510. The BLM manages vast stretches of public lands that have the potential to make significant contributions to the nation’s renewable energy portfolio. To promote the development of these energy sources, the BLM provides sites for environmentally sound development of renewable energy on public lands. The efficient deployment of renewable energy from our nation’s public lands is crucial in achieving the Biden-Harris administration’s goal of a carbon pollution-free power sector by 2035, as well as Congress’ direction in the Energy Act of 2020 to permit 25 gigawatts of solar, wind, and geothermal production on public lands no later than 2025. Bureau of Land Management Moves Several Solar Projects by Death Valley to Low Priority^NextEra Energy is proposing to build a large utilit-scale solar project right here in upper Amargosa Valley, in view of the Goldwell Open Air Museum and ghost town of Rhyolite. The Beatty Energy Center is the project application name. The Furnace Creek Range lies in the distance, in Death Valley National Park. May 26, 2022 - Beatty, NV - At the request of the residents of the region working through their town, letters were sent to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Tonopah Field Office requesting the Beatty Energy Center application, Sawtooth Solar Project application, and Bonnie Claire Solar Project application be moved to Low Priority Status. We received the confirming letters from the BLM that this was done. More >>here. Comment Letter by the Hopi Tribe on the Greenlink West Transmission ProposalMay 22, 2022 - Las Vegas NV - We obtained from the National Park Service this public comment from the Hopi Tribe (pdf) describing their concerns with the Greenlink West Transmission Project.
May 2022 Scoping Meetings for Proposed Greenlink West Transmission LineMay 15, 2022 - Las Vegas NV - See the Bureau of Land Management's Greenlink West Transmission proposal meeting schedule here: https://www.blm.gov/sites/blm.gov/files/docs/2022-05/GLWP_Public_Scoping_Meetings_220502.pdf
Greenlink West Transmission Project Review Starts May 2April 29, 2022 - Nevada - This proposed long high-voltage transmission project would open up all of western Nevada to renewable energy development, in some of the most remote basins and ranges. There are already 230 square miles of solar applications that we have tallied and investigated... https://public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2022-09373.pdf We will share talking points for you to write your own letter for the 30-day scoping period for public comments. More on Greenlink West Transmission Project >>here. Join the Wee Thump Joshua Tree Wilderness Bioblitz!^Gilded flicker at Wee Thump Joshua Tree Wilderness Area, NV. Saturday, April 23, 2022 from 9:00 AM - 1:00 PM Pacific - Meet at Walking Box Ranch April 17, 2022 - Las Vegas, NV - Basin and Range Watch is reopening its Castle Mountains Bioblitz Project on iNaturalist, in cooperation with the Sierra Club Toiyabe Chapter, Nevada Division of Wildlife, and Friends of Walking Box Ranch, in order to highlight the need to protect this biodiverse desert upland in southern Nevada. This will help support the proposed Avi Kwa Ame National Monument. Register Here: https://act.sierraclub.org/events/details?formcampaignid=7013q000002GtIBAA0 Nevada Division of Wildlife will be leading the search for rare gilded flickers, and three species of thrashers. Bring binoculars, snacks and liquids, and your smartphone to record iNaturalist observations. Details and directions at the link above. See more about the Castle Mountains region >>here. Copper Rays Solar Project Moves Forward South of Pahrump, NevadaApril 17, 2022 - Pahrump, NV - In an April 12, 2022 email to Basin and Range Watch from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Southern Nevada Office, BLM says: "The plan is to post the Notice of Intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement [EIS] in the Federal Register this summer, this will kick start the NEPA [National Environmental Policy Act] analysis. We are actively working through the steps necessary to prepare that notice and to get everything in order to get the EIS underway." Copper Rays Solar Project is a proposed 700-megawatt utility-scale photovoltaic solar power generation and battery storage facility on approximately 5,127 acres of BLM-managed public land located in the Pahrump Valley in Nye County immediately adjacent to the Nye-Clark county line, southeast of the Town of Pahrump and approximately 40 miles west of Las Vegas. It would hook into the Gamebird Substation on the SE side of Pahrump. The project would cut off access to public lands and recreational trails, destroy honey mesquite thickets, take desert tortoise habitat, create dust issues, and the power would go to California. More >>here Solar Projects Planned Near Death Valley Would Hurt Wildlife, Public Access and the Local Economy^Detail of map produced by the Town of Beatty showing solar project applications around Beatty, the ghost town of Rhyolite, and the Titus Canyon entrance road. March 17, 2022 - A new land rush of large-scale solar project proposals have been filed for nearly 60,000 acres of public lands so far adjacent to Death Valley National Park in Nevada. Two good articles came out recently concerning the many very large utility-scale solar projects in Nevada public lands on the east side of Death Valley National Park, next to Wilderness Areas in the park. These applications are enabled by the proposed Greenlink West Transmission Project that NV Energy is seeking to ship natural gas power generation from the Apex, NV area northwards to the energy-intensive "Silicon Valley" facilities of Reno/Sparks, NV--the Tesla Gigafactory, Amazon wharehouse, Google facility, Blockchain and others. Good coverage by Scott Streater of E&E News: https://www.eenews.net/articles/solar-boom-casts-shadow-on-death-valley-national-park/ Good local coverage by Scott King of the Sierra Nevada Ally: https://www.sierranevadaally.org/2022/03/14/a-land-rush-for-renewable-energy/ Much more here >>here, including maps and descriptions of the solar applications. Lithium Boom Across California and Nevada^Lithium claim stake on a playa in Sarcobatus Flat, NV, east of Death Valley National Park. February 22, 2022 - An "ion rush" is currently underway in arid lands of southern California and Nevada as miners literally stake claim markers on playas and open deserts east of Death Valley National park in Nevada. Similarly, the Biden Administration on February 22 announced large investments in so-called "critical minerals" such as Lithium, cobalt, and rare earth minerals used in renewable energy manufacture, batteries, and electric vehicles. The White House Fact Sheet announced that outdated mining laws and regulations will be updated. This year, the Mining Law of 1872 turns 150. This law still governs mining of most critical minerals on federal public lands. Today, the Department of Interior (DOI) announced it has established an Interagency Working Group (IWG) that will lead an Administration effort on legislative and regulatory reform of mine permitting and oversight. The IWG released a list of Biden-Harris Administration fundamental principles for mining reform to promote responsible mining under strong social, environmental, and labor standards that avoids the historic injustice that too many mining operations have left behind. The IWG will deliver recommendations to Congress by November. They will also host extensive public input and comment sessions to ensure an inclusive process, and will work with the relevant agencies to initiate updates to mining regulations by the end of the calendar year. More >> here. Solar Leasing on Public Lands^Northern Amargosa Valley, Nevada, along the east side of Death Valley National Park, proposed for thousands of acres of utility-scale solar development. February 14, 2022 - Washington, D.C. – The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is seeking public input on draft guidance to promote the use of wind and solar energy on public lands. The proposed update would reduce acreage rental rates and capacity fees for existing and new wind and solar energy authorizations on public lands. Once finalized, the updated guidance will provide enhanced financial and regulatory predictability for solar and wind energy projects authorized on public lands. “This draft guidance will help us drive an environmentally and economically sound strategy in the development of renewable energy resources on public lands.” said BLM Director Tracy Stone-Manning. “We are doing our part to meet America’s energy needs by promoting predictable and favorable conditions for the market.” See the announcement here: https://www.blm.gov/press-release/blm-seeks-public-input-proposed-guidance-renewable-energy-blm-public-lands?fbclid=IwAR0euvTgUNq5Oe2icS65fCVYqrZuOqh3aOwyl3MBcWPzdXFFKLwkEFkgJjU The trouble is, favoring the market over biodiversity and public lands access for all doe not mesh. The Biden Administration is not driving environmentally sound renewable energy development on public lands, especially in places like Nevada, where Mojave desert tortoises are imperiled, and thousands of old-growth yuccas and Joshua trees are slated to be bulldozed down and mulched to make way for photovoltaic projects that would better go ion rooftops and over parking lots in the built environment. Our comment sent in: February 2nd, 2022
Basin and Range Watch is a 501(c)(3) non-profit working to conserve the deserts of Nevada and California and to educate the public about the diversity of life, culture, and history of the ecosystems and wild lands of the desert.
The Energy Act of 2020, 43 U.S.C. 3003, provides the Secretary of the Interior with authority to reduce acreage rental rates and megawatt capacity fees if, among other things, the Secretary determines “that a reduced rental rate or capacity fee is necessary to promote the greatest use of wind and solar energy resources.”
Again, we recommend that rents and fees for the private corporate use of public lands not be lowered, but should be raised to account for the significant costs associated with large-scale development of high-value ecosystems, natural and cultural resources, and loss of recreation and access. More Greenlink West Transmission Project Public MeetingsFebruary 1, 2022- To join the Zoom: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85633519590 Bureau of Land Management page: https://www.blm.gov/nv-greenlink-west-project-2021 Mojave Literary Journeys #1
|
` |
Calendar of Comment Deadlines: Greenlink West Transmission Line Project Scoping for Envirommental Impact Statement deadline June 1 for public comments >>BLM Solar Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement comments due March 1, 2023 >>BLM Solar applications on east side of Death Valley National Park in pre-NEPA stages Lava Ridge Wind Project, Idaho-Draft EIS may be out summer 2022 Rough Hat Nye Solar Project, Nevada-in Variance Process, pre-NEPA-stay tuned! Rough Hat Clark Solar Project, Nevada-in Variance Process, pre-NEPA-stay tuned! Copper Rays Solar Project, Nevada-in Varance Process, pre-NEPA-stay tuned! Yellow Pine Solar Project, Nevada-join Rabbit Camp to protest! >>mojavegreen.org Support Proposed New Avi Kwa Ame National Monument Under Antiquities Act >>here
Sign up for our Email Newsletter! >>here
Poorly Sited Solar, Wind, and Storage Projects on Public Lands Environmental Justice in the Desert Public Lands and Renewable Energy Natural History of the Desert and Great Basin We Support Proposed Avi Kwa Ame National Monument Clark County, Nevada, Lands Bill
Giving Thanks to the People who have lived and live in these Deserts for thousands of years. We live today on the unceded homelands of the Shoshone, Paiute, Chemehuevi, and many many more Tribes and Indigenous Peoples.
“You've got to get people to believe that change is possible... You have to show that you can fight things successfully even if you don't win.”
“What our Seventh Generation will have is a consequence of our actions today.”
"In the first place you can't see anything from a car; you've got to get out of the goddamned contraption and walk, better yet crawl, on hands and knees, over the sandstone and through the thornbush and cactus. When traces of blood begin to mark your trail you'll see something, maybe." --Edward Abbey, 1967, Desert Solitaire
"Polite conversationalists leave no mark, save the scar upon the earth that could have been prevented had they stood their ground." --David Brower
"Only within the 20th Century has biological thought been focused on ecology, or the relation of the living creature to its environment. Awareness of ecological relationships is — or should be — the basis of modern conservation programs, for it is useless to attempt to preserve a living species unless the kind of land or water it requires is also preserved." --Rachel Carson, Essay on the Biological Sciences, in Good Reading (1958)
|
||||||
|
![]() |
^Amargosa Valley view from near Longstreet, Nevada. |
|
|
|
||||
Text and photographs Copyright 2020 Basin and Range Watch unless otherwise stated. Basin and Range Watch is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. | |||||||||