Mohave County supervisors are siding with the constituents urging them to oppose three solar farms contemplated for public lands in northwest Arizona.
A resolution formally objecting to the projects proposed on land administered by the Bureau of Land Management passed by unanimous vote during Monday’s board meeting in Kingman.
The Leo Solar project is proposed on more than 5,500 acres in south Mohave Valley. Two other solar farms are proposed north of Kingman; one at Mineral Park totaling about 4,000 acres and the other on a slightly larger parcel in the White Hills area.
Members of the ranching community agreed solar energy projects are not a good fit for BLM controlled acreage.
“BLM land is supposed to be multiple use land,” said Emmett Sturgill, who along with his wife Lori operates a ranch on public lands north of Kingman. “If you put those solar panels on it, it’s not going to be multiple use. It’s going to be single use. They’re putting ranchers out of business.”
Tex Carter told supervisors that approval of the Mineral Park project would end his public lands ranch operation on the Pine Springs allotment.
“We want to keep it. We don’t want to lose it. We don’t want to see somebody buy us out,” Carter said. “It’s something for our kids, our grand kids, something we really enjoy. We’re passionate about it. We love the wildlife. The BLM ought to love us because we’re the guys out there taking care of it.”
Sturgill pointed out ranchers contribute to the local economy while many solar projects enjoy tax exemptions.
“I put several hundred thousand dollars a year back into the economy in Mohave County and the other ranchers who run the ranches that these projects are proposed on do the same,” Sturgill said. “There is a lot of private land in Mohave County that would be very suitable for solar projects. I’ll be happy to take some people out and show them some private land. I know people who own private land who want to sell it.”
Some of the opposition is based on concern about water usage and ecosystem damage associated with the millions of solar panels proposed for the trio of projects.
Outdoor enthusiast and conservationist Don Martin quoted comments that former President Teddy Roosevelt expressed decades ago.
“Wildlife and habitat have no voices,” Martin said, quoting Roosevelt. “Therefore it is up to us to speak for them, and I for one, by God, am going to speak for them and oppose this thing every way I can.”
“These huge solar projects are sucking up our water resources and they’re stripping the land of vegetation,” Supervisor Jean Bishop said.
Board Chairman Travis Lingenfelter sided with ranchers who criticized the Biden administration for trying to encourage use of BLM property for solar power generation.
“The federal government needs to stop bulldozing our desert,” Lingenfelter said. “And I’m sorry, you’re not going to convince me it’s going to do one damn thing to lower global temperature.”
The resolution of opposition approved by county supervisors does not prohibit developers from trying to gain necessary approvals to advance their renewable energy endeavors on the three sites.
