Basin & Range Watch
Hiking......Solar Energy Issues.....Wind.....Alerts......Flora......Birding.......Wildlife......Cartoons.......Links......About Us
WELCOME
Basin and Range Watch is a group of volunteers who live in the deserts of Nevada and California, working to stop the destruction of our desert homeland. Industrial renewable energy companies are seeking to develop millions of acres of unspoiled habitat in our region. Our goal is to identify the problems of energy sprawl and find solutions that will preserve our natural ecosystems and open spaces. We support renewable energy but advocate for better national and state planning.
Come visit and experience the great beauty of spring wildflowers, vast open vistas, bird watching trails, and wildlife viewing.
Black-throated sparrow
Interview with Solar Done Right >>here
Renewable Energy Alternatives:
Sign the Petition by Basin and Range Watch to Nominate Ivanpah Valley as an Area of Critical Environmental Concern >> DesertBiodiversity.org
See the ACEC Nomination >>here
*********************************************
CALL to ACTION for ENERGY DEMOCRACY
Sign the Petition by Solar Done Right (scroll down to petition on left front page)
This initiative will bring citizens together to demand a more cost-effective, faster, less damaging, and more democratic path to renewable energy. Our goal is to move renewable energy development away from our ecologically rich and agriculturally important lands and onto rooftops and already-developed areas. Solar Done Right will take this petition to top energy policymakers in our government: the White House, Department of Interior, Department of Energy.
*********************************************
Community Power: Decentralized Renewable Energy in California by Al Weinrub >>1.22 MB PDF
Renewable Energy Projects We Are Following:
Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System
BrightSource's solar thermal power tower proposal in Ivanpah Valley, San Bernardino County CA >>here. Updates >>here
Proposal for an Ivanpah Valley Area of Critical Environmental Concern >>here
Hidden Hills Solar Electric Generating System
BrightSource Energy's second solar thermal power tower proposal in Mesquite Valley, Inyo County CA >>here
Rio Mesa Solar Electric Generating Facility
BrightSource Energy's third solar thermal power tower proposal along the Colorado River near Blythe, San Bernardino County CA>>here
Stateline Solar Project
Photovoltaic panel proposal in Ivanpah Valley, CA >>here
See also Ivanpah Updates page >>here; May 2011 >>here
Silver State South Solar Project
Photovoltaic panel proposal in Ivanpah Valley, Clark County, Nevada >>here
West Chocolate Mountains Renewable Energy Zone >>here
Soda Mountains Solar Energy Project >>here
Desert Sunlight Solar Farm
Many applications for giant solar developments in this Colorado Desert area of Chuckwalla Valley in Riverside County, California >>here.
Genesis Solar Energy Project
NextEra Energy proposes to build a 250-megawatt parabolic trough solar thermal plant near Ford Dry Lake in Chuckwalla Valley, Riverside County, California. Water is a concern. >>here
Blythe Solar Power Project
A huge 1,000 MW photovoltaic panelproject in McCoy Wash, Riverside County with a 5,950 acre footprint. Cultural issues, Fringe-toed lizards, and Desert tortoise are concerns. >>here
Amargosa Farm Road Project
Proposal with storage in Amargosa Valley, Nye County, Nevada >>here
Ridgecrest Solar Power Project
Photovoltaic panel proposal for Kern County, California, in the West Mojave Desert >>here. Updates page >>here
Palen Solar Power Project
500 MW solar power plant on a 5,200 acres public land Right-of-Way. In Chuckwalla Valley ten miles east of Desert Center, on good Mojave fringe-toed lizard habitat >>here
I-10 Corridor Projects in Chuckwalla Valley >>here
Solar Reserve Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project
A 100 MW power tower project with molten salt storage, near Tonopah, Nevada >>here.
Solar Reserve Rice Solar Energy Project
A 500-foot tall power tower in a remote California desert >>here.
Abengoa Lathrop Wells Solar Facility
In Amargosa Valley, Nevada, a 250-megawatt parabolic trough solar thermal plant that may be upgraded to 500 MW, with 70 MW photovoltaic. >>here
Calico Solar Project (SES Solar 1)
This project is larger than the city of Berkeley. Tessera's 850 MW Stirling dish project on 8,230 acres by the proposed Cady Mountains Wilderness, San Bernardino County, California >>here. Updates >>here
Imperial Valley Solar Project
Tessera's Stirling dish project on 6,500 acres sited on archaeologically sensitive Colorado Desert with Flat-tailed horned lizards, west of El Centro, Imperial County, California >>here
Chevron Lucerne Valley Solar Project
Chevron Energy Solutions is proposing to build a 516-acre photovoltaic project on Mojave Desert with Joshua trees and tortoises. Some call the area disturbed, but we disagree >>here
Pacific Solar Big Dune Photovoltaic Project
7,500-acre project in Amargosa Valley, Nevada, on rare and endemic beetle habitat >>here.
Owens Lake Solar project
Los Angeles Department of Water and Power seeks to control dust by industrializing part of this important migratory bird habitat in the Owens Valley, Inyo County, California >>here. Updates >>here
Southern Owens Valley Solar Ranch Proposal by LA Dep of Water and Power >>here
Soda Mountains Solar Energy Project >>here
Solar Demonstration Area in Nevada Test Site by Department of Energy >>here
Robert Lundahl Films on Solar Issues, the Desert, and Indigenous Rights >>here
Wind Projects:
Searchlight Wind Energy Project
Duke Energy's proposal to place giant wind turbines over the Searchlight Hills, Clark County, Nevada >>here.
Granite Mountain Wind Energy Project
RES proposal to place wind turbines on a roadless pristine mountain in San Bernardino County, California, home to the rare Ford's Indra swallowtail. >>here
Ocotillo Express Wind Facility
Pattern Energy's project on the boundary of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, Imperial County, California >>here.
Spring 2011 Field Trip >>here.
Spring Valley Wind Energy Project
Pattern Energy wants to build up to 85 giant 400-foot tall wind turbines in Spring Valley east of Ely, Nevada, 12 miles from the boundary of Great Basin National Park. The site is home to Pygmy rabbits, Sage grouse, and Pronghorn antelope. DEADLINE for Comments January 15, 2010! >>here
Mohave County Wind Farm Project
On the White Hills and fan next to Lake Mead National Recreation Area in northwestern Arizona, near Mt. Tipton Wilderness and by places where California condors have been sighted from Grand Canyon reintroductions >>here
Wilson Creek/Table Mountain Wind Project
A proposed 990 MW wind farm on 30,000 acres of beautiful Great Basin mountain range with elk and sage grouse, a popular recreation area in Lincoln County, Nevada near Pioche >>here
Wind Project Impacts - Photos of Construction in the Mojave Desert and Tehachapi Grassland >>here
Silurian Valley Wind Project >>here
Wind Project Proposed for Eastern Edge of Joshua Tree National Park >>here
Storage Projects:
Eagle Mountain Hydroelectric Pumped Storage Project
An area that should be part of Joshua Tree National Park, in Riverside County, California. Related to the renewable energy projects along the I-10 corridor
>>here
Transmission Projects:
Green Path North Transmission Project
Eldorado-Ivanpah Transmission Project
Southern California Edison proposal to upgrade and add lines in southern Nevada and eastern California in Ivanpah Valley, to deliver future renewable energy to coastal cities >>here
Sunrise Powerlink
Southern California proposed mega-powerline to supposedly link wind and solar in the eastern deserts and Baja to coastal cities in San Diego County, but also tied to fossil fuel >>here
SCE Proposes 2 New Renewable Energy Transmission Projects in Mojave Desert >>here
Science:
BRW Recommends Agencies Follow the Final Report of the Independant Science Advisors to the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan >>here
Desert Pavement: A Natural Soil Type >>here
Desert Tortoise Recovery: Science and Politics Clash >>here
New Desert Tortoise Species Described, Mojave Population Unique, Implications for Big Solar and Conservation >>here
Revised Desert Tortoise Recovery Plan Fails to Address Renewable Energy Sprawl >>here
Sand Lizards of the Desert: Fringe-toed Lizards >>here
Flat-tailed Horned Lizard in Trouble in Imperial Valley, California >>here
Carbon Sequestration in the Desert: Dr. Michael Allen Paper on Gaps in Desert Research >>here
Letter From an Ecologist: Solar Development Threatens the Desert >>here
Water in the Desert: Wet-Cooling and Dry-Cooling Technology for Solar Thermal Projects >>here
Policy:
Prioritizing Where to Site Renewable Energy in California: California Energy Commission Workshop May 2012 >>here
Defining Disturbed and Degraded Lands for Renewable Energy >>here
Solar Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for CA, NV, AZ, NM, CO, UT >>here
Solar Done Right Response >>here
Solar Energy Study Areas
Bureau of Land Management plan to designate renewable energy zones in the desert Southwest >>here
Good Plan, Too Late: Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan New Website >>here
BLM Announces Solar Rental Fees for Public Land >>here
Governor's Renewable Energy Policy Conference
March 24, 2010 at UC Riverside, California: Expediting Solar and Wind in the Desert >>here
Expediting Big Solar: Padilla Bill Signed Into Law at Harper Lake (Where CSP Plants May Be Fighting Over Water) >>here
Solar Energy Development on Federal Lands: The Road to Consensus
Congressional Field Hearing of the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources. Chaired by Rep. Jim Costa (D-Fresno), hosted by Rep. Mary Bono Mack (R-Palm Springs) >>here
Reid and Heller Introduce Competitive Lease Solar and Wind Bill for Public Lands >>here
Nevada: American Solar Energy Pilot Leasing Act of 2010 >>here
Solar Demonstration Area in Nevada Test Site by Department of Energy >>here
Fast-Tracking Renewable Energy
California Renewable Energy Coordination Offices, Renewable Energy Action Team, and the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan >>here. California Fast-Track solar and wind projects >>here. November 2009 summary of projects in Chuckwalla Valley >>here; more projects >>here
Nevada Fast-Track Projects >>here
Senator Feinstein Bill: California Desert Protection Act of 2010
Proposal for Mojave Trails National Monument and Sands to Snow National Monument, some new wilderness areas, some wilderness study areas removed, and a giant plan for a Mitigation Zone for renewable energy projects >>here. Abengoa Solar and Cogentrix Energy support the bill, according to the California Wilderness Coalition
January 2011: Senator Feinstein Crafts New California Desert Protection Bill Minus Solar Provisions >>here
All Renewable Energy Issues >>here
^May 2012 - Green-tailed towhees are migrating through the low deserts to their mountain breeding habitats right now.
Calendar of Comment Deadlines
June 11, 2012 - Mohave County Wind Farm, Arizona, Draft Environmental Impact Statement >BLM
July 13, 2012 - Desert Harvest Solar Farm DEIS >BLM
Ocotillo Wind: Photos of Construction Beginning >>here
Ocotillo Wind: Protest Over Approval >>here
McCoy Solar Project Near Blythe CA: Latest Map >>here
Prioritizing Where to Site Renewable Energy in California >>here
Ocotillo Wind Project: Press Release by Native Americans, Environmental, Recreation, and Hunting Groups >>here
California State Assembly Passes Special Law to Fast-track Calico Solar Project >>here
BP's Mohave County Wind Project Draft Environmental Impact Statement Released -- 47,000 Acres Near California Condor Habitat >>here
Latest Construction Photos of Ivanpah Solar Project >>here
Searchlight Wind Project: Send in Your Comments Now >>here
Desert Harvest Solar Farm by enXco Starts Public Review >>here
More Renewable Energy NEWS >>here
Desert Pavement: A Natural Soil Type >>here
Hiking the Desert
|
||
Ibex Dunes, Death Valley National Park >>here Chuckwalla Valley and Chuckwalla Bench, CA >>here Chemehuevi Mountains Wilderness, CA >>here Stateline Wilderness, CA >>here Mount Tipton Wilderness, AZ >>here Mount Jefferson, Toquima Range, NV >>here Big Morongo Canyon Preserve, NV >>here
|
|
|
"Best In The Desert" 500-mile Off-road Race Vegas to Reno Starts August 20, 2010 >>here
MINING NEWS >>here
Reward Mine Gets Permit >>here
"In the first place you can't see anything from a car; you've got to get out of the goddamned contraption and walk, better yet crawl, on hands and knees, over the sandstone and through the thornbush and cactus. When traces of blood begin to mark your trail you'll see something, maybe."
--Edward Abbey, 1967, Desert Solitaire
^National Clean Energy Summit held in Las Vegas, Nevada.
MORE CARTOONS >>here.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|