The Bureau of Land Management has a major wind energy project on public lands in South Central Idaho. It has faced strong opposition, especially from descendants of Japanese Americans unjustly incarcerated during World War II.
As approved, the Lava Ridge Wind Project would feature 241 turbines capped at a maximum height of 660 feet. Those are reductions from the original proposal, which the agency were made in response to 鈥渆xtensive public and community feedback regarding the protection of sensitive natural and cultural resources.鈥�
鈥淭he approval paves the way for hundreds of millions of dollars in economic benefits to bolster local Idaho communities while generating enough domestic energy to serve more than 300,000 households across the West,鈥� Magic Valley Energy said in a statement. MVE is the company that will build and operate the installation and is a subsidiary of LS Power.
Many critics of the project were especially concerned about impacts to the , home to an internment camp that held more than 13,000 Japanese Americans during World War II. The closest turbine would be 9 miles away, but still visible.
Robyn Achilles, the executive director of Friends of Minidoka, said that may 鈥渟eem like a long way away.鈥�
鈥淏ut if you are at the site and the very flat landscape and the turbines 鈥� it's intrusive to the sacredness and immersive experience at the site,鈥� she added.
The group had supported an alternative in which no turbines would be visible. But Achilles, who had several family members held at other internment sites, did acknowledge the approval includes measures that would protect Minidoka from future development impacts.
鈥淭he project approval reflects a careful balance of clean energy development with the protection of natural, cultural, and socioeconomic resources on this historically significant landscape,鈥� the BLM release reads. 鈥淭he 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.鈥�
Among the mitigation measures the BLM said MVE 鈥渨ill prioritize鈥� at Minidoka NHS are the restoration of the historic mess hall and the relocation of a transmission line from within the site鈥檚 boundary, according to an released with the .
Many BLM documents related to the project can be found .
This story was produced by the Mountain West 暗黑爆料 Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Colorado and KANW in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West 暗黑爆料 Bureau is provided in part by the .