JEROME, Idaho — After years of debate and community-wide disapproval, the Bureau of Land Management approved the Lava Ridge Wind Project northeast of Twin Falls.
- The new plan will reduce the total number of turbines from 400 to 241, with a new max height set at 660 feet.
- The new plans also shift the location away from the shadow of the Minidoka National Historical Site, with the closest turbine now nine miles away.
- As for the citizens' efforts to stop the project, Dean Dimond says their work isn't done and a legal battle looks likely.
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story.)
The Lava Ridge Wind Project will propel forward after the Bureau of Land Management approved new plans Friday but locals like Dean Dimond still aren't on board.
"That's a bunch of bull-larkey that they're putting out there to appease the people,” said Dimond.
Dimond owns land along the project site and is also one of the leaders of the Stop Lava Ridge Movement.
He's not a fan of the project despite updates that will reduce the total number of turbines from 400 to 241, with a new max height set at 660 feet.
The new plans also shift the location away from the shadow of the Minidoka National Historical Site, with the closest turbine now nine miles away.
But Dimond isn't impressed.
"It's still awful, its huge windmills taking over our public land and the people have spoken very loud and very clear that they do not want it,” said Dimond.
BLM Director Tracy Stone-Manning said the agency "Spent hundreds of hours in the field and in conference rooms talking with Native American leaders, Japanese American community members, cooperating agencies, ranchers, and a broad range of people with deep ties to the Magic Valley, who all helped shape the proposal," reaching a decision that she said "Balances clean energy development that the country needs and the protection of resources that are vital to the natural and cultural history of the west.”
It's not just local residents reacting to the decision.
Idaho's top government officials also issued statements against the project.
Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador points the finger at the Biden Administration and its plans to move "ahead regardless of the damage to Idaho farms, ranches, rural communities, agricultural aviation, water supplies, wildlife, and historical sites." Adding “That they will keep fighting this attempt to blatantly ignore the voice of Idahoans.”
Idaho Senator Mike Crapo chimed in, agreeing that it's "Par for the course for the Biden Administration." And that he looks "forward to engaging with the incoming Trump Administration to have this project reviewed thoughtfully and thoroughly for a just and appropriate product that reflects the overwhelming will of Idaho's citizenry."
As for the citizens' efforts to stop the project, Dimond says their work isn't done and a legal battle looks likely.
"We're not going to give up, we're going to fight this thing until it's dead,” said Dimond.
With high-ranking state government leaders supporting efforts to stop the project, the "Stop Lava Ridge Movement" says they will continue to fight this decision and hope the new Trump Administration will step in on their behalf.
