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A pile of ripped-up Joshua trees and Mojave yuccas lies next to a pad under construction for a Greenlink West Transmission Project tower, north of Kyle Canyon, in southern Nevada.
Department of Interior Moves Forward with Large-Scale Solar and Transmission Projects on Nevada Public Lands under the Trump Administration
Department of Interior Moves Forward with Large-Scale Solar and Transmission Projects on Nevada Public Lands under the Trump Administration
May 9, 2025 - Nevada - The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is moving plans forward to permit large-scale solar energy, lithium battery storage, and transmission on public lands in Nevada. While executive orders have scaled back wind energy projects, BLM is moving along with thedevelopment of 5 large-scale solar projects and 2 major transmission projects designed to carry green energy through remote parts of Nevada. Pahrump Valley, Indian Springs, Amargosa Valley, and Sarcobatus Flat are threatened with development, opened up by the Greenlink transmission projects.
“All of these projects will create major impacts on Nevada’s natural and cultural resources,” said Kevin Emmerich, Co-Founder of Basin and Range Watch. “We are seeing endangered desert tortoises now being removed from the Rough Hat Clark County Solar Project site and thousands of Joshua trees, Mojave yuccas and cacti removed for the Greenlink West Transmission Project – being built to carry power from planned remotesolar energy projects in Nevada.”
The projects that are moving forward are:
Rough Hat Clark County Solar -- a 2,500-acre solar project with lithium battery storage just south of Pahrump, Nevada. It was approved by the Biden Administration on January 18th and biologists are now on the project site planning to excavate and remove over 100 protected desert tortoises before the site is bulldozed for solar panels.
The recent rain in the north Mojave Desert is always a good thing for the plants and wildlife. It brings out wildflowers and desert tortoises in the spring. Sadly, it also brings the desert tortoise biologists who have been hired to remove as many desert tortoises as possible off the 2,500 acre Rough Hat Clark County solar project site. They expect to move 114 adults. It will likely be more.
Virtual provitization of public lands in south Pahrump Valley, Nevada: Rough Hat Clark Solar Project begins constuction, places No Tresspassing signs.
Biological surveyors begin the process of translocationg desert tortoises off the Rough Hat Clark Solar Project site.
The desert tortoise clearance crew has reported for duty for the 2,500 acre Rough Hat Clark County Solar Project, South Pahrump Valley public lands, Nevada. In the next month or two, desert tortoise biologists will dig up every burrow they find and move every desert tortoise they find about 5 miles away to the south - on a very dry year. After that, bulldozers will crush all the tortoises they don't find along with countless lizards, insects, rodents, rare plants, etc.. The BLM estimates that there are 114 adult tortoises on the site and close to three times as many juveniles which mostly go undetected.
Dust whirlwind at the "Sagebrush Substation" under construction for Greenlink West in northern Amargosa Valley, Nevada, near Big Dune.
Greenlink West Transmission Project – a 525 kV transmission project planned from east of Las Vegas to Reno. The project is currently being built from Kyle Canyon to Amargosa Valley, Nevada. It is removing old growth Mojave Desert plants and creating bad fugitive dust problems in the Amargosa Valley at the substation construction site, and is using up precious groundwater in a failed attempt to control the dust. The project will eventually impact 3,500 acres of public land.
It is much easier to have success moving cacti over yuccas. The Greenlink West Transmission line, Southern Nevada is removing thousands of cacti and yuccas in its path. ebar tower foundation structures are in a lay-down area. Some of the Joshua trees are large and in excellent condition but are not salvageable due to the fact than they easily break apart when moved.
This Joshua tree is large and is in the path of the Greenlink West Transmission project 3 miles north of Scotty's Junction, Nevada. Large Joshua trees will not be salvaged under their protocol because they break apart too easily and will not survive, so this one will be killed. Taken with a zoom lens next to the approved Right of Way.
Greenlink West Transmission Project construction gouging out a new road and tower pad on a steep hillside near Mercury, Nevada.
Almost daily volunteers photograph dust clouds rising from construction of intact desert for the Amargosa Valley, Nevada, new substation for Greenlink West, along US 95. Violations are reported to the state but we observe no change. Death valley National Park lies in the distance.
Greenlink North Transmission Project – a 210-mile 525 kV transmission line planned along Highway 50 – “The Loneliest Road in America”. The project will cut through some of the most remote and scenic areas in Nevada and develop a large amount of habitat for the Greater sage grouse which has seen large population crashes throughout it range. It will enable tens of thousands of acres of large-scale solar projects in these remote areas. BLM will release a Final Environmental Impact Statement the summer. BLM told us that wildlife and botanical surveys are underway.
Libra Solar Project – a 5,100-acre solar project with lithium battery storage about 11 miles south of Yerington, Nevada. The project was approved by BLM in September and will impact pronghorn, water resources, air quality and even build its transmission in sage grouse habitat. It will use local roads and impact private landowners.
Bonanza Solar Project – a proposed solar project with lithium battery storage west of Indian Springs, Nevada, that would develop 2,500 acres of some of the most valuable desert tortoise habitat in Nevada. The U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service determined that the project would be in “the most crucial desert tortoise connectivity corridor in Nevada”. The area is a narrow linkage corridor for tortoise populations between the Indian Springs Valley, Amargosa Valley, and Pahrump Valley. A Final Environment al Impact Statement is planned for June.
Copper Rays Solar Project – a 4,400-acre solar project with lithium battery storage located just south of Pahrump, Nevada. It will impact desert tortoises, Joshua trees, Ice Age fossils, mesquite woodlands, archeology sites, and the developer seeks to drill two wells on the site and take 500-acre feet of water out of the aquifer. Basin and Range Watch officially protested the water proposal with the State of Nevada. It will impact local well owners, mesquite woodlands and use up precious water in an over-drafted aquifer. BLM intends to release a Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for this project in May.
Purple Sage Energy Center – a 4,300-acre solar energy project with lithium battery storage proposed for public lands south of Pahrump, Nevada, near the California border. The project will impact desert tortoises, mesquite woodlands, neotropical migrating birds, and the Old Spanish National Historic Trail. Basin and Range Watch also located a Columbian mammoth fossil on this site. Ice Age fossils would also be impacted. The site is being surveyed now for desert tortoises and the BLM plans on releasing the Final Environmental Impact Statement in the middle of May.
South Pahrump Valley soalr projects are still moving forward. New road and dust sign.
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