New Arizona Solar Projects
^April 12, 2023 Bureau of Land Management virtual presentation screenshot of the proposed Eagle Eye Solar Project undergoing Variance review. This project would remove saguaro cactus plants from native desert habitat. More project applications are coming in.
June 10, 2023 - Kingman, Arizona — The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will hold a virtual forum on May 18, 2023, at 5 p.m., to share information and receive public input on three applications for solar energy development on public lands designated as solar variance areas in Mohave County. The three projects are White Hills Solar, Mineral Park Solar, and Leo Solar. White Hills is initially proposed as 450-megawatt on 4,300 acres of public lands, Mineral Park Solar is initially proposed as 275-megawatt on 3,958 acres of public lands, and Leo Solar is initially proposed as 300-megawatt on 3,736 acres of public lands. Scroll down past Eagle Eye Solar Project below to see maps of these new solar applications.
https://www.blm.gov/press-release/blm-hold-virtual-public-information-forum-solar-proposals
Public comments on these projects will be accepted through June 19th, 2023.
https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2024049/510
Documents can be found at:
https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2024049/570
Eagle Eye Solar Project
Duting a virtual public meeting hotsed by BLM on April 12,2023, we learned that this solar project would need to remove many saguaro cacti over 4,000 acres. Some of the saguaros would be relocated or sold off. In the Box Canyon Solar Project, 25 saguaros were relocated by working with the local garden club.
The vegetation in the solar arrays would be cleared and masticated in order to construct single-axis tracking on drilled piers. The site would not be graded flat, but some vegetation left. Palo verde trees, however, would be removed.
"We can't sidestep it--there will be impacts," said a BLM staff.
Microphyll trees in washes on the site would be masticated and shredded.
^Palo verde tree.
Elf owls and gila woodpeckers could use this habitat.
The project may be given a pesticide use permit. Another solar project in Arizona is having a weed outbreak due to the rainy winter and spring. BLM is trying to figure out what to do. This is another disturbance impact that solar projects have on intact landscapes.
The solar project overlaps the B abcock grazing allotment on these public lands. The permittee is entitled to compensation for fences, corrals, and water facilities that may be removed in order to make way for the solar project. These costs may be passed off to the solar developer. BLM will also look at impacts to pastures. The permittee will be given a 2-year notice. Impacts to the grazing permit would be mitigated. There could be a "grazing-preferred alternative" in the environmental review.
Anti-glare coating on the solar panels might reduce bird collisions. This has been a chronic yet under-reported problem on the "lake effect" and avian-solar impacts. Birds mistake solar arrays for lakes.
Public comments for the Eagle Eye Solar Variance Project (Lake Havasu Field Office) were accepted through May 12, 2023.
^Eagle Eye Solar Project, from a kml file from BLM.
^Eagle Eye Solar Project proposal.
Leo Solar Project
^Leo Solar Project proposal between the Colorado River and Oatman Highway. Fom a kml file provided by BLM.
^Proposed Leo Solar Project southwest of Oatman, AZ.
Mineral Park Solar Project
^Proposed Mineral Park Solar Project next to the eixtsing nickel mine in Golden Valley, AZ.
^Map of proposed Mineral Park Solar Project, from BLM kml file.
White Hills Solar Project
^Proposed White Hills Solar Project would overlap with the bui lt wind project near Dolan Springs, AZ.
^White Hills Solar Project proposal overlapping with the existing wind project.
^White Hills Project proposal.
^Proposed White Hills Solar Project.
