Excluding High Conflict Areas
We define “high conflict” areas as those areas that are or should be excluded from solar development. These include:
- Areas that are legally incompatible with solar energy development based on statute, regulation, or administrative designation.
- Areas that may be legally compatible, but where development of one or more solar facilities within such areas may hinder the ability for the BLM to manage the areas for their designated use.
These high conflict areas include wilderness areas, WSAs, WSRs, national monuments, national trails, ACECs, DWMAs, critical habitat, special management areas, areas with cultural or historic resources, Long-Term Visitor Areas (LTVAs), and Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) use areas (Table 1). Additionally, lands managed by the NPS, FWS, and DOD were included, as these lands are withdrawn from energy development (Map 1). All other areas of BLM land in the California desert would thus be “potentially available”, and these areas were chosen as the scope of our ecological impact analyses.
Note: DOD may allow energy development on their lands if all the energy produced is used on DOD land. It has yet to be determined if energy development for sale to the grid is considered an authorized military use on BLM lands withdrawn for military purposes, which constitute many of the DOD lands in the California Desert.
| Designation | Conflict Level |
|---|---|
| Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC) | ++ |
| Cultural and Historical Resources | ++ |
| Critical Habitat | ++ |
| Desert Wildlife Management Area (DWMA) | ++ |
| Long Term Visitor Area (LTVA) | + |
| National Monument | +++ |
| National Trail | + |
| Off Highway Vehicle (OHV) Use Area | + |
| Solar Energy Study Area (SESA) | – |
| Special Management Area | ++ |
| Wild and Scenic River (WSR) | + |
| Wilderness Area | +++ |
| Wilderness Study Area (WSA) | +++ |
+++ designations of areas that are withdrawn from energy development or otherwise legally prohibit it.
++ areas of high conflict that may technically allow some level of surface disturbance, but where a solar facility may fill or breach any such cap or otherwise limit the ability of the BLM to manage the land for its designated purpose.
+ areas that may not have a limit on development or legal exclusion of energy development, but where energy development may preclude BLM from managing the area for its designated purpose.
- areas specifically designated to be compatible with utility-scale solar development, though some site-level conflicts may still exist.
