Tilting at Windmills...Here We Go!

China Mountain is an emerald gem of a mountain on Idaho's Nevada border. Sage-grouse, elk, pronghorn, bluebirds, golden eagles and native wildflowers found a refuge there when the surrounding plains burned in recent fires. 

A British wind energy company wants to build hundreds of 427-foot high wind turbines on your public land at China Mountain. How will they do that? Lots of dynamite blasting, road building, and over 15,000 truckloads of construction materials rumbling across hundreds of miles of quiet country roads.

We support clean energy, and are thrilled to see the wind turbines popping up along I-84 on lands already converted to human use. There are lots of places in Idaho to build wind projects. China Mountain is not the place to put industrial wind energy. The Bureau of Land Management needs to hear from all of us by midnight on July 6, and we've made it easy for you with a sample letter and direct connection here. Please send it on. 

We sent an email to ICL members last week, and 250 of you already raised your voices to the BLM. But a few of you came back and said, "What?!? We need clean energy. How can ICL oppose a project that will reduce our coal use and might bring economic benefits to Idaho?"

We're glad you asked!  ICL's been ranging the political and physical landscapes, looking for best answers to Questions of Life, the Universe and Energy. And we're joined by groups like the Rocky Mountain Audubon Society, the Nevada Wilderness Project, Great Basin Resource Watch, the National Wildlife Federation, and the Natural Resources Defense Council in identifying the proposed China Mountain wind project as a bad idea, all around.

ICL first reviewed the proposed China Mountain Wind Project and met with the developers in 2002. We’ve discussed the project with scientists and land managers at Idaho Fish and Game, BLM and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Last year, we worked through two review and comment rounds with the developers and met with their national permitting director. We visited the mountain with and without the developers and conducted low-altitude overflights.

ICL does not pay lip service to supporting renewable energy—we dedicate staff time every day to changing policy and shifting our energy system.  Our full time lobbyist, Courtney Washburn, pushes for renewable-friendly legislation such as tax rebates. Our full time energy specialist, Ben Otto, works with the Public Utilities Commission and with Idaho Power to create electrical plans emphasizing renewables. We are currently at the table in an Idaho geothermal rulemaking process, advocating with geothermal developers to facilitate geothermal development on state lands. We chair a sage-grouse committee bringing Idaho Power, agencies, wind developers and environmental groups together to encourage renewable development with accompanying wildlife habitat funds. 

This project is simply sited in the wrong place. Most Idaho wind developers and landowners choose agricultural land to site their projects, and we support that choice. China Mountain holds a rare piece of continuous habitat, where wildlife can move freely and find food year-round. The mountain is a sage-grouse population stronghold, providing refuge for three regional sage-grouse populations. Sage-grouse don't survive well when their habitat is fragmented by roads, buildings and weed patches—this project could bring us much closer to an Endangered Species listing for sage-grouse.

Even the BLM recommends that China Mountain be designated as an Area of Critical Environmental Concern and closed to wind development. The developers say they'll put money in a mitigation fund, but no mitigation in the surrounding fragmented and burned landscape could replace the year-round support provided by China Mountain for regional wildlife.

What's in store for China Mountain next year...photo from the Draft Environmental Impact Statement

This project also doesn't bring the maximum financial benefit to Idaho. If the entire project were built on private farm and ranching land, Idaho landowners would collect about $12 million in rent. Building the project on public land means the rents go to D.C., not to Idahoans.

Join us in opposing this project—let the BLM know you want them to protect this land.

ICL takes energy very seriously. We need to clean up our act, saving energy where we can and building better energy sources. There will be costs to wildlife as we go forward, and we are here to watch carefully and sound the alarm when costs are too high. We are glad that ICL members are asking the tough questions, and we want you to know all that we consider before we ask you to weigh in on a vital topic. Thanks for reading!