FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact:

Anne Brande (307) 760-7330 albanycountyconservancy@gmail.com

Mike Lockhart (307) 760-8605

US Bureau of Land Management withdraws approval of Rock Creek Wind Gen-Tie Transmission Line

Right-of-way authorization revoked after agency fails to follow federal public notification procedures

Laramie, WY (October 25) ― The Albany County Conservancy (ACC) together with retired U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist Mike Lockhart claimed victory this week when the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) withdrew its decision to grant a right-of-way (ROW) for the Rock Creek Wind Gen-Tie Transmission line to cross federal public lands in southeastern Wyoming.

The Conservancy and Mr. Lockhart were plaintiffs in a legal challenge to the ROW decision where they argued that BLM “conducted its review of the project in secret - without any public notice or input whatsoever.”

The Rock Creek Wind Gen-Tie project is part of PacifiCorp’s massive electrical transmission build-out planned for habitat-rich lands in southeast Wyoming for the purpose of delivering wind energy to California. The power line will be constructed in the high desert ecosystem that connects multiple mountain ranges enclosing the Shirley and Laramie basins, one of the most important habitat areas for golden eagles in North America. PacifiCorp’s future power lines will include Gateway South, Gateway West, and Gateway D 2.2.

In an October 10, 2023 filing with the court, Rawlins BLM Field Office Director, Timothy M. Novotny stated that “The Bureau of Land Management has decided further NEPA analysis is warranted to give the public an opportunity to provide input on the potential environmental impacts of the right-of-way.”

“We are encouraged by the BLM’s action of voluntary remand without vacatur. However, it is astounding and disturbing that the BLM, a federal agency tasked with protecting federal lands, imperiled wildlife, and historic sites associated with this area, was solely focused on opening public land to exploitation by private interests without any public transparency,” said Anne Brande, ACC Director. “That is until we, a grassroots coalition of concerned residents, discovered that the decision was signed without public input. This is a strong testament to the strength of NEPA and its importance in facilitating public involvement with federal decisions.”

“This critical, year-round habitat for golden eagles is also home to many imperiled species including the greater sage grouse, mountain plover, black footed ferret, and the northern leopard frog,” said Mike Lockhart, research biologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife. “All these species are of enormous social and economic importance to Wyoming and the nation.”

With seventeen operating industrial wind energy sites and their accompanying industrial power lines and substations already in operation in southeastern Wyoming and a grand total, at present, of twenty-one sites approved, large swaths of Wyoming’s vital habitat areas are quickly transforming into an enormous industrial complex of exceptional danger to migratory birds and bats. The American public cannot afford to have its federal agencies ignore the environmental laws they are tasked with upholding. Sacrificing biodiversity in the name of climate change makes no scientific or moral sense.

The ACC commends the agency for its action and reminds the BLM and its sister agencies that they have an obligation to take care of the environment, prioritize the public interest, subject their decisions to transparency and scrutiny, and protect our natural heritage.

The Albany County Conservancy is a grassroots coalition of Albany County residents dedicated to the preservation and protection of habitat, history, and wildlife through education, public policy initiatives, and legal advocacy. It is represented by the public interest law firm Eubanks & Associates, PLLC.

For Immediate Release, July 31st, 2023

Contact:

Anne Brande, Albany County Conservancy (a grassroots coalition of Albany County residents dedicated to the preservation and protection of habitat, history, and wildlife through education, public policy initiatives, and legal advocacy). (307) 760-7330, albanycountyconservancy@gmail.com

Federal agency fails to notify public, finds “no significant impact” without seeking public comment

Laramie, Wy. ― Last Friday the Albany County Conservancy filed a Complaint against the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in Federal Court regarding its final decision to issue a right-of-way for the Rock Creek Wind Gen-Tie transmission line on BLM land in southeast Wyoming. This large-scale industrial power line will connect the Rock Creek Wind Project to Pacific Corporation Rocky Mountain Power’s Gateway South, Gateway West, and Gateway D 2.2 electrical superhighway. BLM found “no significant impact” regarding the Rock Creek Wind power line without any public notification, comment, or other forms of public participation. Rock Creek Wind and the associated Rock Creek Gen-Tie Line will destroy thousands of acres of important habitat for greater sage-grouse, golden eagles, and other wildlife.

“Renewable energy facilities aren’t green if they are poorly sited such that they kill and degrade critically important habitats for protected and declining wildlife in this Rocky Mountain/transitional grassland basin region so important to both resident and migratory species,” says Anne Brande, a fourth-generation Wyoming photographer and founder and Executive Director of the Albany County Conservancy. “The Bureau of Land Management is trying to sneak through approval of these federal rights-of-way without environmental review, enabling a massive cumulative assault on declining wildlife and habitat from both existing and numerous proposed wind projects. Rock Creek Wind also sits a mere 5 miles from Bamforth National Wildlife Refuge.”

“This high desert ecosystem, connecting multiple mountain ranges encloses the Shirley and Laramie Basins in southeast Wyoming. It is one of the most important areas for golden eagles in North America. Other endangered species who call this area home include greater sage grouse, mountain plover, black footed ferret, and the northern leopard frog. All these species are of enormous social and economic importance to Wyoming and the nation.” Mike Lockhardt Research Biologist for U.S. Fish and Wildlife.

“There are already seventeen operating wind farms in southeastern Wyoming. There will be twenty-one operative wind projects in southeastern Wyoming after approved build out in the near future. After all are complete there will be a contiguous and enormous industrial complex of exceptional danger to migratory birds and bats commonly killed by large scale wind development and the associated power lines and substations that accompany it. The American public cannot afford to have Federal agencies ignore environmental laws they are tasked with upholding.” Lockhardt https://eerscmap.usgs.gov/uswtdb/viewer/#8.16/41.725/-106.15

“The biodiversity crisis is as dire as the climate crisis. Sacrificing biodiversity in the name of climate change makes no scientific or moral sense,” says Brande.

The Albany County Conservancy is being represented by the public interest law firm Eubanks & Associates, PLLC.

(Site photo available upon request.)