A federal plan outlining utility-scale solar energy development on public lands is drawing praise from the Sportsmen for Responsible Energy Development coalition. The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, Trout Unlimited and the National Wildlife Federation are lead partners in the SFRED coalition.
The Department of the Interior’s release of the final solar programmatic environmental impact statement establishes an initial set of 17 “solar energy zones” encompassing 285,000 acres in six Western states. The statement encourages industry members to develop solar projects inside the approved zones while also establishing a process for addressing development in other areas.
Emphasizing that the final impact statement is vastly improved from earlier drafts, the SFRED coalition highlighted several positive elements of the plan, including its mitigation framework, management strategy, landscape-level management and integration of public and stakeholder participation, including concerns over impact on outdoor recreation.
For more on the SFRED, visit http://www.sportsmen4responsibleenergy.org/.
Sportsmen’s Coalition applauds solar energy plan
