BLM moves forward with Nevada solar project in area of ​​greenery that was asked to be protected

The Bureau of Land Management is paving the way to build a massive solar energy project in a valley west of Las Vegas, despite objections from environmental groups that have asked the agency to protect the region.

On Thursday, the bureau released a final proposal to amend the Southern Nevada Land Use Plan to allow the eventual construction of the Rough Hat-Clarke County Solar Farm, which would cover about 2,400 acres of federal land and have the capacity to generate enough electricity to provide energy approximately 2,400 acres of federal lands. 120,000 houses.

The plan is outlined in a final environmental impact statement, which will be officially released on Friday. Federal Registerwill not only amend the Las Vegas Resource Management Plan (RMP) to address federal requirements for the region’s visual resources, but will also establish parameters for the solar project’s construction and restoration, including setting a “maximum disturbance threshold” to help reduce damage to vegetation and soils .

The BLM proposal, first unveiled in January, would also require that no more than 21 percent of the actual 1,900-acre project site be cleared of vegetation and graded for installation of solar panels. The rest of the project will have to use other methods, such as raised solar panels, which will allow the plants to remain virtually untouched.