Solar Regional Mitigation Strategy for three Solar Energy Zones in Colorado: BLM Launches Study

On February 26, 2014, the Bureau of Land Management San Luis Valley Field Office and BLM Taos Field Office announced the launch of the San Luis Valley/Taos Plateau Study: Landscape Assessment and Solar Regional Mitigation Strategy. The study will help the BLM to ensure environmentally responsible solar energy development on public lands through long-term planning.

The first phase of the study is a Landscape Assessment, which will use existing data on the ecological values, trends and conditions in the geographic area covering Colorado's San Luis Valley and New Mexico's Taos Plateau (~6,115,000 acres). The Landscape Assessment will increase knowledge of the potential impacts and cumulative effects of change (i.e. human development, climate change, invasive species) on important ecological, cultural and socioeconomic values.

The information, maps and tools provided by the Landscape Assessment will be used in the second phase of the study, which is the development of a Solar Regional Mitigation Strategy. The mitigation strategy is intended to help facilitate solar energy development on solar energy zones in Colorado by simplifying and improving the mitigation process for future projects. The BLM invites federal, state and local agencies and the public to provide recommendations and references to existing reports and data to help inform the Landscape Assessment and the BLM Colorado Solar Regional Mitigation Strategy.

Interested parties can learn more by visiting the project Web site at http://www.blm.gov/co/st/en/fo/slvfo/solar.html or by contacting Joseph Vieira, Project Manager at 719-852-6213 or SolarMitigation@blm.gov.