Steens Mountain Wind Development Challenged

On behalf of the Oregon Natural Desert Association and the Audubon Society of Portland, Advocates for the West has challenged the BLM's approval of a lengthy transmission line across southeastern Oregon's Steens Mountain, one of the jewels of the West.  The North Steens transmission line would facilitate construction of an industrial-scale wind power project on a private inholding on Steens Mountain. 

The transmission line for the wind project would cut across an area protected by Congress in 2000 and fragment one of the largest undeveloped landscapes left in the Great Basin. Wind turbines, transmission lines, access roads and associated development pose threats to migratory routes and breeding areas for sensitive species such as bighorn sheep, Golden eagles, and Greater sage-grouse, a bird recently recognized by the Department of the Interior’s own Fish and Wildlife Service as being in danger of extinction, due primarily to fragmentation of its sagebrush habitat.

Files: 

Complaint (4-5-12)