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Written by Jim Sloan
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Monday, 14 May 2012 13:41 |
 By Liese Dart & Stephen Schima
Recently, Warren Buffet, often referred to as the “Oracle of Omaha” for his legendary investment strategies, offered a recipe for success in an annual report published by Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc.
Buffet named three “key ingredients” for companies to remain profitable and competitive in the 21st century: invest in “people, communities and the environment,” advising that “taking shortcuts is not the pathway to achieving sustainable competitive advantage, nor is it an avenue toward satisfying customers.”
Buffet also noted that “today our world is changing faster than ever before – economic, geo-political and environmental challenges abound.”
Berkshire Hathaway has made significant forward-looking investments in renewable technologies including solar. If we heed his words, a smart strategy would be to invest in infrastructure for the future – for example, to link remote areas of the West that contain many of the country’s most excellent renewable energy resources. As Warren Buffet prophesizes, gaining competitive advantage requires businesses to think long-term about where people live, how to tread lightly on the land and technologies with a long shelf life.
Remarkably, Congress recognized the wisdom of protecting “people, communities and the environment” over 40 years before Buffet offered his multi-billion dollar advice. In 1969, Congress passed the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) with overwhelming, and now rare, bipartisan support. The law requires that before undertaking projects that may significantly affect the environment, including air and water resources, federal agencies must assess the impacts of proposals, solicit the input of all affected stakeholders and disclose their findings publicly.
Critically, NEPA recognizes that the public – which includes industry, landowners, local and state governments and business owners – can make important contributions by providing unique expertise. NEPA’s common sense axiom is simply “look before you leap,” which is exactly the type of smart investment strategy Warren Buffet prescribes.If Buffet’s advice doesn’t win you over, heed the advice of the national security experts, which advocates that renewable energy project developers should consult with military bases at the initial “napkin planning stages” of project development, a practical step towards avoiding project delays due to conflicting uses of the land.Nowhere are the benefits of public input and environmental analysis more evident than in the current solar development and planning efforts taking place across the west.
Solar development has shown NEPA is working – the average time for environmental review for utility-scale solar projects on public lands in 2010 was 1.4 years, well within other permitting time frames for similarly sized projects, and remarkable given these projects’ are unique in scale and complexity.
To spur further responsible investment in large-scale solar, the Department of the Interior has nearly completed a six-state study of the best solar resources on public lands with the lowest environmental and other conflicts. This process – afforded under NEPA’s “programmatic” review, will lead investors and developers to low conflict project sites across the southwest, and result in better projects. Using the NEPA process, the DOI has received invaluable input from industry groups, other agencies, environmental groups and concerned citizens.
Recently however, many in Congress have failed to recognize that long-term economic competitiveness requires both investment in sustainable technologies and robust environmental review. In the past year alone, over 40 pieces of legislation have been proposed which aim at weakening or waiving NEPA’s requirements for public participation and early environmental analysis. In reality, circumventing environmental review has the potential to result in “real” costs to projects by ignoring potential alternatives, inviting litigation and delaying permits.
And as Mr. Buffet’s advises “taking shortcuts is not the pathway to achieving sustainable competitive advantage” – what’s good for the environment is good for the bottom line.
This piece was co-authored by Stephen Schima of the Partnership Project and Liese Dart, Policy Advisor, Wildlife & Clean Energy of The Wilderness Society
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Written by Wild Nevada
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Monday, 14 May 2012 13:24 |
 Bob Abbey, the director of the Bureau of Land Management and a former Reno-area resident, has announced his retirement from the BLM.
Abbey was appointed to the post in 2009 by President Barack Obama after being recommended by Sen. Harry Reid. Abbey had previously been Nevada’s BLM director.
At the national helm, Abbey helped usher in the era of renewable energy projects on public lands – a key priority of Obama’s administration. Abbey OK’d 29 large-scale renewable energy projects on public land, including 16 solar projects, eight geothermal plants and five wind farms.
A key issue for the BLM in Abbey’s absence is how to promote conservation efforts for the sage-grouse, which is a candidate for Endangered Species List. Abbey has expressed confidence that the listing, which would have widespread and devastating impacts on public land-use in Nevada, can be avoided.
Deputy BLM Director Mike Pool will serve as acting director.
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Written by Wild Nevada
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Monday, 14 May 2012 10:52 |
Gov. Brian Sandoval's Greater Sage-grouse Advisory Committee will hold its first meeting Tuesday (May 15) at 8:30am in the Guinn Room of the Nevada State Capitol.
What are the issues? We haven't seen the agenda but out best guess is that they'll start out by talking about how devastating it would be to Nevada's economy to have the sage-grouse listed under the Endangered Species Act. They bird's habitat and numbers have plummeted and a listing threatens to shut down mining, energy development and all kinds of other activities on public lands.
Members of the Advisory Committee are, Mayor Bob Crowell, Chairman (Carson City); Bevan Lister, Agriculture representative (Pioche); Tina Nappe, Conservation representative (Reno); Jeff Ceccarelli, Energy representative (Reno); Kent McAdoo, General Public representative (Elko); Carl Erquiaga, Local Government representative (Fallon); Allen Biaggi, Mining representative (Minden); JJ Goicoechea, Ranching representative (Eureka); Jack Robb, Sportsmen representative (Reno); and Beverly Harry, Tribal Nations representative (Nixon).
The meeting will be videoconferenced in Northern Nevada to the following locations:
- University of Nevada Cooperative Extension Video Classroom, 1085 Fairgrounds Road, Winnemucca
- Great Basin College High Tech Center, Room 120 (HTC 120), 1290 Burns Road, Elko
- University of Nevada Cooperative Extension Conference Room, 995 Campton St, Ely
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Written by Wild Nevada
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Thursday, 10 May 2012 08:08 |
Nature lovers looking for a shot of inspiration for their summer adventures will find it in abundance at the Wild Nevada Art Exhibit, designed to evoke the best of Nevada’s unique wild places through striking works of art.
The exhibit, part of the Artown 2012 events taking place in Reno throughout the month of July, will run 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, July 9-13 and 10 a.m.- 4 p.m., Saturday, July 14.
An open house will feature the opportunity to meet the artists and enjoy refreshments and live music, 4-7 p.m., Thursday, July 12.
Admission to all events is free, sponsored by the Nevada Wilderness Project at its headquarters, 333 Flint Street in Reno.
“We invite all outdoor enthusiasts as well as art lovers to this week-long exhibit of artwork and photographs that capture Nevada's unparalleled wildlife and scenic wonders,” said Jeneane Harter, Nevada Wilderness Project executive director.
Among the featured professional and amateur artists and photographers are well-known local painter, Eric Holland; landscape artist, Emma Auriemma-McKay; and wildlife wood sculptor, Craig Mortimore.
Nature and outdoor photographers including noted northern Nevada wildlife photographer Larry Neel are showcased in works depicting some of Nevada’s most cherished as well as remote and amazing wildlife and wilderness areas. Most of the works will be available for sale at the end of the exhibit, with a portion of the proceeds benefiting Nevada Wilderness Project’s work in wildlife habitat conservation, wilderness preservation and smart development of renewable energy.
For more information regarding the Wild Nevada Art Exhibit, the Nevada Wilderness Project or to volunteer, visit www.wildnevada.org or call 775-657-8430.
For Artown details, visit www.renoisartown.com.
About Artown: The Nevada Wilderness Project’s Wild Nevada Art Exhibit, presented during the month of July, is part of the 17th annual Artown festival, July, 2012. The month-long summer arts festival features more than 400 events produced by more than 100 cultural organizations and businesses in locations citywide. Artown receives major funding from the City of Reno, and is sponsored by Grand Sierra Resort, U.S. Bank, NV Energy, JLH Inc., Waste Management, Basin Street Properties, Reno Gazette-Journal, KOLO 8 News Now, KTHX-FM and KNPB with additional support from the Nevada Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts.
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Written by Wild Nevada
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Monday, 07 May 2012 16:47 |
 A recent Las Vegas Review Journal editorial went after “environmentalists” for suing a California energy company over a proposed $225 million wind energy project west of Ely in Nevada. The groups in question were friends of ours – the Western Watershed Project and the Center for Biological Diversity – and their lawsuit resulted because they felt the environmental reviews of the project didn’t adequately address the impacts on bats and sage-grouse.
We didn’t think so either. We noted a while back that this project was not “smart from the start” for a variety of reasons.
The editorial went on to declare that this wasn’t an isolated case; the “environmental lobby” has been making trouble for renewable energy projects all across the country. “… it’s about crippling economic development by hamstringing this country’s energy sector,” the editorial said.
While we were not a party to the lawsuit, we did, however, feel this might be an opportunity to explain to the public – and the editorial writers at Nevada’s largest newspaper – why groups like ours carefully examine the development of renewable energy projects on public lands. So here’s the letter our Executive Director Jeneane Harter wrote and got published in the paper:
To the editor:
Your recent editorial, "Energy foes," misleads readers by claiming that conservation organizations are challenging renewable energy projects in court because our "true green agenda" is to cripple economic development.
The truth is that the Nevada Wilderness Project and other conservation groups have publicly supported many renewable energy projects for the simple reason that utility-scale wind, solar and geothermal projects will reduce our country's emission of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
But when a project such as the 7,500-acre Spring Valley Wind Farm doesn't perform adequate environmental reviews, we will do what we can to make sure it complies with National Environmental Policy Act requirements. That's why our group worked with and endorsed the Crescent Dunes solar project north of Tonopah and SWIP (aka One Nevada) transmission line, both of which made adjustments to their design to avoid damaging sensitive wildlife habitat.
When a renewable energy project is being built on the public's land, our group and the two groups that challenged Spring Valley in court have an obligation to ensure the public's assets are not compromised. That means protecting the habitat of the sage-grouse, which is a candidate for the endangered species list, and making sure bats and other wildlife are not unduly harmed by the development.
Finding the right location for these projects - on public land that is close to transmission lines and existing roads, and not encroaching on fragile wildlife habitat or wilderness areas - is what we call "smart from the start," and it benefits the developers, the economy and our state. It's not "hamstringing the country's energy sector."
Jeneane Harter
Spring Valley from the nearby Mount Moriah Wilderness.
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Written by Wild Nevada
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Monday, 07 May 2012 13:55 |
 Interior Secretary Ken Salazar was in Nevada today to flip the switch on Nevada’ original “fast-tracked,” utility-scale solar power project – a 50 megawatt photovoltaic plant in the Ivanpah Valley.
The Silver State North project, which will sell its generated juice to NV Energy, is the first of what Salazar hopes will be many renewable energy projects built on public land.
“Today is a landmark for America, a landmark for the solar industry and a landmark for how we use our public lands,” Salazar said in a speech dedicating the project. “We are making believers out of skeptics. A lot of people would have said three years ago that this day would never come.”
OK, so this is a big deal, at least symbolically. Salazar’s shelf of the Cabinet has approved 29 wind, solar and geothermal projects on public land since 2009. The Interior Department has also designated key Solar Energy Zones in the West that will help ensure future solar plants don’t threaten sensitive wildlife habitat or infringe on proposed or protected Wilderness and Conservation Areas. We call projects like that “smart from the start.”
In the case of Silver State North, we dubbed this 600-acre project 40 miles southwest of Las Vegas “smart” because the developer was willing to gather environmental input early on to avoid complications during the formal review process. From where we sat at the review table, that was a good sign.
Project developer Solar One Inc. agreed to deal with issues related to the desert tortoise. The desert tortoise is an ancient reptile that dwells in the creosote bush bottomlands of the Ivanpah Valley where this project was placed. With mitigation for desert tortoise during the construction phase, and with scientific monitoring of the tortoise population after construction, this site represents an opportunity to learn how well the desert tortoise can manage living in the vicinity of a utility-scale solar project.
The Silver State North project is owned by Enbridge Inc., Canada’s largest oil-pipeline company, and generates enough electricity for about 9,000 homes, according to a statement today. The next phase of solar development in the valley will be the construction of the much larger Silver State South Solar Project.
A supplemental EIS for the 13,043 acres of affected land is under development and is expected to be available for public review toward the end of 2012. Initial scoping meetings were held in September 2011 that prompted substantial changes by the developer to address desert tortoise movement connectivity – the spatial requirement necessary to assure that populations will not be cut off from one another – and to promote stability of the large alluvial bajada that flows out of the nearby Lucy Gray Mountains. This landscape feature is an important ecological feature of the Mojave Desert and typically harbors the richest biodiversity within the biome.
This EIS will address the much larger Silver State South Solar Project that expects to produce 350 megawatts of electricity, of which Southern California Edison has secured a 250-megawatt, long-term PPA. The developer has not yet committed its sale of the remaining 100 megawatts of capacity.
NWP will continue to be present as Silver State South Solar Project and additional renewable energy projects are contemplated in Nevada.
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Written by Wild Nevada
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Monday, 30 April 2012 12:37 |
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 Nevada Wilderness Project and other Gold Butte supporters managed to fight back an attempt by members of the Mesquite City Council to rescind a two-year-old resolution in favor of a National Conservation Area for the breathtaking but threatened desert area.
Mesquite City Council member Kraig Hafen had asked to rescind the resolution for 120 days in order to bring various parties together to discuss the “where as and where for’s” of the 2010 resolution supporting the declaration of Gold Butte as a National Conservation Area. It wasn’t clear why the resolution needed to be rescinded in order for that to happen, but, well, that was the argument.
It didn’t fly. A roomful of people turned out mostly in support of the NCA, which hasn’t been introduced yet, although Rep. Joe Heck has talked about the possibility with local residents.
Resolution 669 supports an NCA and calls for a committee to ensure local involvement in the area’s management plan and for the enhancement of multiple uses, local heritage and so forth.
NWP members were on hand at the meeting to speak in favor of keeping the resolution, which the council ultimately did by a 3-2 vote. Many felt it was very important that the council not to back away from NCA support at a time when Congress may still be deciding whether to move forward with the legislation. At least two council members, Karl Gustaveson and Al Litman, said 90 percent to the emails they received leading up to the April 24 vote were in favor of the NCA.
While there have been some interesting theories about why Mr. Hafen and councilmember George Rapson wanted to rescind the resolution, the consensus among local residents is that an NCA with Wilderness will improve the local tourism economy and bring some much-needed help to Gold Butte.
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Written by Wild Nevada
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Monday, 23 April 2012 08:39 |
 The Mesquite City Council Tuesday is scheduled to reconsider its two-year-old resolution favoring protection for the Gold Butte area, and we will be on hand to convince them to keep the statement just the way it is.
Mesquite’s “Resolution No. 669,” asks Congress to declare Gold Butte a National Conservation Area instead of leaving it as an “Area of Critical Environmental Concern.” NCAs provide a higher level of protection than an ACEC.
Gold Butte, located northeast of Las Vegas, is a 350,000-acre region of rare geologic formations, prehistoric rock art, historical mining districts and sensitive wildlife habitat for desert tortoise and dozens of other plant and animal species. The area contains two small areas of designated wilderness – Lime Canyon and Jumbo Springs – but there are large tracts of sensitive land that also deserve protection before their biological, cultural, scenic and historical qualities are compromised or lost. These areas including Billy Goat Peak, the Million Hills Wilderness Study Area, Black Ridge, North Bitter Ridge, the Scanlon Wash and Twin Springs Wilderness in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area.
Protecting Gold Butte is not just good for wildlife and the environment, it’s also good for the Southern Nevada economy. Nevada’s public lands are valuable resources that offer outstanding recreation, including hunting, fishing, hiking, camping and a lot more. Studies have shown that Western counties with protected public lands have greater success at attracting new business, new residents and tourists than regions without conservation areas or national monuments. These protected areas also help maintain property values.
Susan Holecheck, who was mayor of Mesquite when the resolution was adopted in May 2010, reminded Mesquite council members of all this last week during a technical review meeting on the issue.
“Help us to preserve not only our cultural heritage but to also help us now in these times to look for economic advantages which statistically can be proven come to neighboring cities close to NCAs,” Holecheck, who know works with us on promoting federal legislation to make Gold Butte a National Conservation Area with Wilderness, was quoted saying in the Mesquite Citizen.
We keep inching close to getting the National Conservation Area. Gold Butte was among the 18 backcountry areas that Interior Secretary Ken Salazar recently highlight as deserving protection by Congress as national conservation areas or wilderness areas. U. S. Rep. Joe Heck, whose district includes Gold Butte, has met with various groups in Mesquite to discuss Gold Butte legislation. NCA opponents largely refused to budge or negotiate, something even their supporters say doesn’t make much sense.
Mesquite’s attempt to revisit its support of Gold Butte doesn’t make a lot of sense for this community either. If Gold Butte were made a National Conservation Area with Wilderness, the community would benefit from the tourists who would arrive to enjoy the area. These are people who would stop in town, stay in hotels, eat in restaurants and buy hiking boots in local stores. This kind of impact has been well-documented.
Just as well-documented is the reassurance that NCA legislation would be tailored to the community; there is no truth to the suggestion that Gold Butte would be “locked up.” In fact, not a single mile of the 500 miles of roads in Gold Butte would be closed.
If you want to weigh in on this issue, you have a couple of opportunities:
1. You can write to the mayor and city council of Mesquite and ask them to work harder to protect Gold Butte rather than wasting time undercutting the NCA effort.
2. You can write to Rep. Joe Heck and ask him to step up and introduce federal legislation.
3. Attend the meeting. Here are details on when and where.
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Written by Wild Nevada
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Thursday, 19 April 2012 15:21 |
 Long-term protection for Gold Butte is getting closer to reality, but this spectacular area may need your voice of support very soon.
If you can, support Gold Butte at the Mesquite City Council meeting Tuesday April 24th.
The Mesquite City Council may revoke its Resolution in support of Gold Butte at this council meeting, which starts at 5 p.m.
We feel this action is based on flawed assumptions about what permanent protection for Gold Butte means, and we need your voice to help make the case for conservation. Can you to attend this meeting and show your support for Gold Butte?
Making Gold Butte a National Conservation Area with Wilderness is a terrific opportunity to preserve a part of our heritage and to help foster greater tourism opportunities for Mesquite in the future.
Please RSVP to NWP to let us know if you can be at the City Council meeting on April 24 to show your support for Gold Butte. If you respond, we can provide you some key talking points for the meeting.
Meeting Details:
Mesquite City Council regular meeting
5 p.m. Tuesday April 24
Mesquite City Hall
10 E. Mesquite Blvd.
Mesquite, Nevada
For the Wild:
The Nevada Wilderness Project
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Written by Wild Nevada
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Friday, 13 April 2012 11:04 |
 In the spirit of this thing we’ve heard of called fun and spring we're re-launching a series of opportunities for members to get to know us better.
We call it Wild Wednesdays, and it’s held on the third Wednesday of the month.
This month we’re at St. James Infirmary at 445 California Avenue in Reno.
If it's nice we'll be on the porch. If it's not nice we'll be inside. Either way, we'll be the friendly outdoorsy-looking folks with a sage grouse and some beers.
This is not just another opportunity for NWP staffers to drink – Lord knows we have enough of those. Instead it’s an opportunity for us to meet you – our members and anyone who is interested in the work we do . It’s a chance for us to make new friends and get together with some old friends who are passionate about protecting Nevada’s spectacular wild places.
It’s a BYOB (buy your own beer) kind of get-together, with the idea being that we’ll keep our hard-earned dollars and member contributions working for wilderness and not our own personal merriment, although these are often one in the same.
So stop by, say hi and hoist a cold one with us. We’ll update you on everything we’re working on, if you wish, our else we can all just share tall tales about our recent hikes or fishing expeditions.
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The helicopters are back in their hangars, the biologists have all finished their reports, the data has been secured within spreadsheets, maps and databases, and the sage-grouse are winding down their annual mating cycle.
