FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 30, 2024
Contact: Chandra Rosenthal, PEER, (303) 898-0798, crosenthal@peer.org
Kevin Emmerich, Basin and Range Watch, (775) 764-1080, atomicquailranch@gmail.com
Laura Cunningham, Western Watersheds Project, (775) 513-1280, lcunningham@westernwatersheds.org
Conservationists File Protest Against Plan for Massive Solar Development on Public Lands, Citing Neglect of the Old Spanish National Historic Trail
WASHINGTON, DC – The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) must take steps to protect the integrity of the Old Spanish National Historic Trail as part of its updated Western Solar Plan, according to a formal protest filed by PEER, former National Park Superintendent John Hiscock, Basin and Range Watch, Western Watersheds Project, the Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks, and the Amargosa Conservancy. The Solar Plan, the groups argue, violates the National Trails System Act (NTSA) and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act. It represents a significant disregard for historic preservation and the statutory responsibilities of federal land management.
The Western Solar Plan, which would open 31 million acres in 11 states to solar development, fails to offer required protections for the Old Spanish Trail, which spans approximately 2,700 miles across Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah. Designated in 2002, the Trail commemorates the historic route used by traders, explorers, and settlers between Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Los Angeles, California, during the early 19th century. It is a vital cultural resource that provides insight into the complex history of indigenous trade, Spanish colonial expansion, and early American westward migration.
Groups protest that:
- The Solar Plan fails to include NTSA rights-of-way or adopt BLM’s “Trail Management Corridors” policy, which are crucial for the preservation of the Trail’s integrity;
- The Solar Plan does not contain adequate protections for the Trail in the relevant Resource Management Plans within the Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement, even though the Trail crosses at least 24 BLM field units*; and
- Despite having 19 years to complete the Congressionally required Comprehensive Management Plan for the Trail, which would lay out protections, BLM and the National Park Service have yet to do so.
Threats to the integrity of the Old Spanish Trail are growing. Over the past ten years, at least 39 projects impacting the Trail have been approved by federal agencies. In 2020, for example, BLM approved the Gemini Solar Project, allowing the developer to build solar panels over a three mile stretch of the California Wash section of the Old Spanish Trail. Groups argue that piecemeal planning is eroding the Trail.
“BLM’s current proposal disregards the protection of a nationally significant historic trail that is supposed to be safeguarded by federal law,” said Chandra Rosenthal, Public Lands Director at PEER. “Required protections should be in place before solar developments are permitted in these areas. This is blatant neglect of BLM’s statutory obligations.”
“In Nevada alone, there are five solar project proposals which will be located next to the trail and one in the Pahrump Valley that would even be on top of the trail,” said Kevin Emmerich, Co-Founder of Basin and Range Watch. “All of these projects will be grandfathered into the updated Western Solar Plan. Had the BLM fulfilled its responsibility to create a Comprehensive Management Plan for the trail, I doubt that would be looking at so much destruction to the trail and the associated viewshed.”
“BLM must prioritize safeguarding America’s historical landscapes alongside its push for renewable energy development,” said Laura Cunningham, California Director at Western Watersheds Project. “The intact public lands with high-value cultural and natural resources of the Western U.S. need to be protected.”
“We have real concerns about not just the risk to National Historic and National Scenic Trails but to the protection of culturally sensitive sites as well,” said Phil Francis, Chair of the Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks. “We urge BLM to consider the impacts to historic and
cultural sites and include strong guidance on the importance of avoiding sensitive locations prior to authorizing solar energy projects.”
The conservation groups urge the BLM to suspend its solar development plans until it fulfills its legal obligations to develop a comprehensive management plan for the OSNHT and include proper protections for the trail in the relevant RMPs.
*Footnote: The BLM field units intersected by the Old Spanish National Historic Trail include: Arizona – Arizona Strip Field Office RMP; California – California Desert Conservation Area Plan as amended by DRECP LUP amendment, South Coast RMP; Colorado – Grand Junction RMP, Dominguez Escalante NCA RMP, Gunnison Resource Area RMP, McGinnis Canyons NCA RMP, San Luis RMP, Tres Rios RMP, Uncompahgre RMP; New Mexico – Rio Puerco RMP, Taos RMP, Farmington RMP; Nevada – Las Vegas RMP, Red Rock Canyon NCA RMP; Utah – Beaver Dam Wash NCA RMP, Cedar Beaver Garfield RMP, Grand Staircase-Escalante NM RMP, Kanab RMP, Kanab-Escalante RMP, Moab RMP, Monticello RMP, Price RMP, Richfield RMP, St. George RMP.
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Read PEER and the conservation groups’ protest here
See the list of 39 federal projects in which John Hiscock advocated against compromises to the Old Spanish Trail
