The Bureau of Land Management is proposing to carefully route a major planned transmission line through sensitive greater sage grouse habitat in northern Nevada, drawing sharp criticism from conservation groups.
BLM’s proposal is part of a draft analysis, set to be formally unveiled Tuesday, of the 235-mile-long Greenlink North transmission line. The project has been prioritized by the Biden administration as a key to transporting electricity from planned renewable energy projects and to provide more transmission capacity to growing areas in northern Nevada.
The draft environmental impact statement, summarized in an advance notice in Monday’s Federal Register, would require amending three resource management plans to allow for the Greenlink North project to be routed across sections of sage grouse habitat, including breeding grounds called leks.
The draft plan would route about 210 miles of the proposed power line to more closely follow already disturbed rangelands and areas “already impacted by existing transmission lines.” And it would include requirements that the project proponent, NV Energy, install “anti-perching/nesting deterrents” on the power line poles to keep grouse predators such as ravens off the high-tower lines.
