Lava Ridge

Magic Valley Energy is seeking authorization to use BLM managed public lands in southern Idaho to construct, operate, maintain and decommission the Lava Ridge Wind project. David Sparks, Sportsman Spotlight This project is going to be massive in terms of using public lands, given that it's infrastructure that is proposed within the corridors is estimated to have a 2374 acre footprint and a total disturbance area of 9114 acres. Gray Weber, a resident of Dietrich, Idaho, has some concerns. Speaker2: This is a plan for one of the biggest wind farms, if not the biggest wind farm in the world. But the biggest thing is that it's not on a private piece of property. It's on public land. Right now you can probably count 6 or 700 antelope circling us. Idaho Fish and Game has all the data of color and big game from craters of the moon down through this sage corridor. And it's one of the biggest wintering corridors for big game in the state of Idaho. And I think the biggest problem is going to be during the construction phase if this does go through big game. Animals are a big fan of being left alone. They're just going to go to the areas of lower population. So whether that's here on this haystack, whether that's in your backyard, whether that's on your freeway or your local highway, how are the farmers and the wildlife going to coexist? Speaker1: And isn't that how everything seems to go these days as populations of humans explode and ultimately impinge on animal habitat? A green energy project should be a favorable step towards preserving the planet. But as Weber points out, it may come as a cost to fish and game.