What we are doing and why:
Basin and Range Watch will hold a live and virtual gathering along the Tecopa Road-Old Spanish Trail Highway at the Stump Spring turnoff to bring attention to the grand plans to industrialize the entire area with 5 large-scale solar projects and a new substation and transmission lines. One project, Yellow Pine Solar, has already been approved by BLM and will destroy 90,000 old growth Mojave yucca plants on 3,000 acres (4.6 square miles) of lands owned by the Bureau of Land Management. There are 5 more proposed solar projects in this area. One for the California side and 4 for the Nevada side. In total, over 17,000 acres are being considered for development of huge solar projects in the region. We estimate that over 600,000 Mojave yuccas, 30,000 Joshua trees and 2,000 desert tortoises would all be impacted by these plans. Also being sacrificed are archeological sites and public access to BLM lands.
In addition, Congress recently passed a spending bill that included building five times the current number of renewable energy projects on public land by 2025. We need an urgent discussion about where to build this infrastructure, and how to do it without ruining our desert ecosystems.
Please join us for a series of talks, guided walks and virtual tours of the area. For live participants, this will be a socially distanced event and masks will be encouraged. If you plan on attending the event in person, bring water, sunscreen, and food. You are also welcome to camp on site.
We will be talking about the flora and fauna, the cultural history, the plans to develop the area, what impacts to expect and sane alternatives to destroying this beautiful old-growth desert region.
