LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – The proposed Rough Hat Clark County Solar Project would take up 2,400 acres of public land in the Pahrump Valley. The area is home to the federally protected desert tortoise, a species that has already seen a significant population decline in the Mojave Desert.
“When we saw the big solar projects coming in, that’s when we kind of sprang to action, because there are better alternatives, and we should save this desert,” said Laura Cunningham, co-founder of nonprofit conservation group Basin and Range Watch.
“They’re only found in Nevada, California desert, a little bit of Utah, and a little bit of Arizona, and they’re just sliding toward extinction. Every year, 1.8% of the population dies from development and droughts, and then these big solar projects come gobbling up their land.”
Nonprofit conservation group Basin and Range Watch estimates that more than 100 desert tortoises would have to be moved off the land to build this solar project.
“They fence it off, and then they dig up all the desert tortoises and put them somewhere else. They shoo away all the other animals that live there.”
The developer, Candela Renewables, says their plan includes the option to lift the fences so tortoises can return to the area once the project is complete, but environmentalists say some tortoises likely won’t survive that process.
“We were very concerned about this impact to the desert tortoise. So we rallied up a few environmental organizations and sent a letter to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management,” Cunningham said.
They are asking the bureau to designate the land as an area of critical environmental concern and cancel the project.
The Bureau of Land Management says it is reviewing that nomination and, separately, preparing the final environmental impact statement and resource management plan for the project, which is expected to be released this fall.
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