BLM Advances Lava Ridge Wind Project in Southern Idaho

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) approved the Lava Ridge Wind Project northeast of Twin Falls, Idaho, which could power as many as 500,000 homes with clean energy, while creating hundreds of jobs and supporting local and regional economies. The project footprint reduces the area disturbed from the initial proposal by half, decreases the number of turbines from 400 to 241 (231 on BLM-managed lands and 10 on lands managed by the State of Idaho) and imposes a maximum height limit of 660 feet for turbines, consistent with extensive public and community feedback regarding the protection of sensitive natural and cultural resources.  

The BLM's decision authorizes 231 wind turbines and related infrastructure, which are expected to disturb 992 acres within a 38,535-acre area of BLM-managed public lands in Jerome, Lincoln, and Minidoka counties. The project approval reflects a careful balance of clean energy development with the protection of natural, cultural, and socioeconomic resources on this historically significant landscape. The record of decision directs required mitigation measures to protect these values and defers future development proposals on over 212,000 acres in the area until the adequacy of the mitigation measures is assessed by the Bureau. 

“The Interior Department is playing a pivotal role in tackling the climate crisis and boosting the clean energy economy to provide communities across the nation with clean, reliable energy,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management Dr. Steve Feldgus. “The Department recognizes the deep history and significance of this landscape and appreciates the tremendous collaborative effort that went into minimizing the project’s impact on both the visual character of the area and the physical environment.” 

“The BLM spent hundreds of hours in the field and in conference rooms talking with Native American leaders, Japanese American community members, cooperating agencies, ranchers, and a broad range of people with deep ties to the Magic Valley, who all helped shape the proposal,” said BLM Director Tracy Stone-Manning. “Those discussions led to a final decision that balances clean energy development that the country needs and the protection of resources that are vital to the natural and cultural history of the West.”   

As part of the process, the BLM responded to a nomination for protection of the landscape’s importance to the Minidoka National Historic Site by enacting interim measures to limit additional development and protect cultural resources found in the former Minidoka War Relocation Center on approximately 15,000 acres of public lands. The interim measures will stay in place until the area is further considered for designation as an Area of Critical Environmental Concern during a formal planning process. 

The Record of Decision adjusts the proposed project configuration so that the closest turbine to the Minidoka National Historic Site would be nine miles away. It also reduces potential impacts to sage grouse, large wildlife migration routes and winter concentration areas, cultural resources, Jerome County Airport and agricultural aviation uses, public land ranchers, and adjacent private landowners. The BLM’s decision also reduces impacts by requiring seasonal restrictions during construction, private property setbacks, and ensuring the developer coordinates activities with the ranching community. 

With today’s announcement, during the Biden-Harris administration the Department has approved 43 renewable energy projects on public lands and exceeded the goal to permit 25 gigawatts of renewable energy by 2025 by reaching a total approved capacity of more than 33 gigawatts of power – enough to power more than 15 million homes. This year, the BLM also issued a final Renewable Energy Rule that will lower consumer energy costs and the cost of developing solar and wind projects, improve project application processes, and incentivize developers to continue responsibly developing solar and wind projects on public lands. 

The Record of Decision and associated planning documents are available at the BLM National NEPA Register.

Bureau of Land Management | https://www.blm.gov/