Why is the BLM only displaying a wind energy development map?
In Oregon, the current demand for wind development exceeds other renewable and conventional energy development. Wind development has successful establishment within the Columbia Basin. As such, the BLM is concentrating on wind energy first because the complex allocation of resource uses and protections on public lands, and the increasing concern of fragmentation of sagebrush habitats, necessitates the BLM to synthesize existing information, data, planning decisions, and policies into a more readily available format. In order to make this synthesis understandable and relevant to the specific interest of stakeholders, the BLM is first concentrating on wind energy. Other energy developers including renewable, conventional, and nonconventional, may also utilize the information provided in this map. While wind energy may have differing challenges from other forms of energy development, all development will need to address ground disturbance, infrastructure, and transmission lines. Based on
