Powering up for Wildlife “Smart-from-the-start” solar-energy
plan ensures fewer risks to wildlife Building solar-energy
fields on already developed land can help protect desert
tortoise habitat. (Photo: © Mark A Wilson) The desert landscape
is looking even brighter now that the Interior Department has
released its first roadmap for environmentally responsible
solar-energy development on public lands in the West. According
to the map, unfurled this fall, this means the Bureau of Land
Management (BLM) will direct solar-energy projects to areas that
avoid or have reduced impacts to wildlife and wild lands in
Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah. “The
decision to direct solar projects to low-conflict areas is a
much more rational approach to renewable energy development on
public lands,” says Jamie Rappaport Clark, Defenders’ president.
“This is better for wildlife, energy developers, utilities and
investors alike because it offers a more efficient way to get
environmentally friendly renewab