BLM considering wind project

Tucked away in a remote corner of Lincoln County is one of Nevada's hidden treasures, an area that until the turn of the century was unfamiliar to just about anybody outside of the ranching and hunting communities. Then Congress passed the Lincoln County Conservation, Recreation and Development Act (LCCRDA) in 2004 and everything changed.

Bounded by the Fortification Range on the north, the White Rock Mountains on the east and the Wilson Creek Range on the west, this outdoorsman's paradise that is home to a growing herd of Rocky Mountain elk is known for its trophy mule deer and provides the southernmost foothold for the sage grouse. Sandwiched in the middle of a triangle formed by these three ranges is Table Mountain, a focal point of reproduction for all three species, especially for sage grouse.

But just how long this will hold true remains to be seen.

With passage of the LCCRDA, Table Mountain lost its 30-year-old designation as a Wilderness Study Area while another 720,000 acres of public land in the Fortification, White Rock and Wilson Creek mountain ranges were placed under the lock and key of wilderness.

No longer designated as a WSA, Table Mountain, along with the rest of the public land left in between the new wilderness areas, suddenly became the target of alternative energy interests looking for a place to build some huge wind turbines and the power lines needed to connect them to the grid.

Wilson Creek Power Partners, LLC, a Class-A affiliate of Southern California Edison, is looking to build as many as 373 wind turbines on 31,000 acres. According to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the project's ''components are expected to include buried power collection lines and communication cables, access roads, meteorological towers, substation(s) and switchyard(s), an operation and maintenance building, a single or double-circuited 120 to 230 kilovolt overhead transmission line, and portable cement batch plants and rock crushing facilities.''

Labeled the Wilson Creek Wind Project, this complex of turbines and support components will stretch along the Wilson Creek ridgeline, across Table Mountain in multiple rows and south again to the north end of the White Rock Wilderness Area. According to the project map, the partners want to put a row of turbines in the same saddle where my brother and I shot our bucks during an early 1990s muzzleloader season.

In an email to concerned citizens, Cory Lytle, a member of the Lincoln County Advisory Board to Manage Wildlife wrote, ''If this project goes through, the hunting and access on these mountains will be lost. Gone-Gone-Gone. Pressure on other areas will increase, and it will also have a dramatic effect on the deer and elk herds in (Area) 231.

"Another factor in this is sage grouse. If the sage grouse population is eliminated from our area, it puts them one step closer to being listed as endangered. If that were to happen, kiss the way of life we know and enjoy goodbye as well.''

Lytle and other residents have said they aren't against wind energy. They just want this project moved to a more suitable location with less impact on the environment and its way of life, a way of life that stretches well beyond the boundaries of Lincoln County.

The 60-day public comment period began May 27 and will end July 29. During that time, the BLM will hold four public scoping meetings, including one in Clark County. That meeting will be from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. July 11 at the BLM office, 4701 N. Torrey Pines Drive.

Comments also can be submitted in writing at the following address: BLM Ely District Office, HC 33 Box 33500, Ely, NV 89301, Attn: Dan Netcher or faxed to Netcher at (775) 289-1918 or submitted to wilsoncreekwind@blm.gov.

Freelance writer Doug Nielsen is a conservation educator for the Nevada Department of Wildlife. His "In the Outdoors" column, published Thursday in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, is not affiliated with or endorsed by the NDOW. Any opinions he states in his column are his own. He can be reached at intheoutdoorslv@gmail.com.