Green Options » Fort Irwin

How Fort Irwin Just Signed The Largest Solar Farm in Dept of Defense History: 1,000 MW

Susan Kraemer — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 02:39:30 +0000

In a win-wIn move for the US Army and the USA, a mutually beneficial financing arrangement was signed this week between the US Army and a new partnership (”Irwin Energy Security Partners LLC”) comprising Clark Energy Group and multinational solar power giant Acciona. By using Enhanced Use Leasing they can now not only finance the solar project for Fort Irwin, but double the size to 1,000 megawatts.

The solution they came to this week provides a model for how to get around the difficulties encountered by utility scale solar companies in getting past NIMBY opposition and other roadblocks to developing big solar in the desert.

Army’s Desert Tortoise Translocation Plans Successfully Halted

Rhishja Larson — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 16:53:31 +0000

The Army’s proposal to move 1,000 desert tortoises has been placed on hold by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, amid concerns over the Army’s previous plan that resulted in the death of 252 out of 600 tortoises.

The Center for Biological Diversity announced that a plan by the Army to move over 1,000 federally and state-listed threatened desert tortoises (Gopherus agassizii) from their Fort Irwin habitat to Bureau of Land Management lands has successfully been halted.

Army’s Desert Tortoise Translocation Program Suspended due to Lawsuit

Jennifer Lance — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 01:28:57 +0000

In order to expand training operations at Fort Irwin, CA, the Army began relocating 770 desert tortoises in March 2008. Coyotes immediately began killing the relocated tortoises. In response to a lawsuit filed by The Center for Biological Diversity to stop the translocation, the Army suspended the operation. Ileene Anderson, a biologist with the Center for Biological Diversity explained:

We predicted that the translocation of tortoises from Fort Irwin’s expansion would be disastrous, and unfortunately, we were proven right. The loss of so many tortoises is certainly not helping this threatened population. The Army must minimize the death rate. If relocation really is necessary, it needs to be done much more carefully.

Image: USGS

Via: World-Wire