A massive solar farm is planned as prime habitat for prairie chickens in Wisconsin

An alliance of hunters, birders and public lands advocates in Wisconsin are opposing a massive solar project proposed in Portage County because of the impact it could have on prairie grouse habitat and local hunting opportunities. The groups have called the project, which is being proposed by Doral Renewable Energywhich they say is essential to meeting Wisconsin’s long-term renewable energy goals. Instead, they are asking the state regulator to scale down the project in a way that will better protect Wisconsin’s last remaining prairie grouse stronghold. The period for public comment because the project closes on Friday.

If completed in its current form, the 7,100-acre Vista Sands Solar Project would be capable of producing about 1,300 megawatts of electricity, making it by far the largest solar project in Wisconsin. That’s enough to power about 200,000 homes, and it would be a significant step toward the state’s larger goal of achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, said Jon Baker, Doral’s vice president of development Wisconsin Public Radio in July.

The area where the Vista Sands project will be built is ideal for large solar arrays. It is a flat, sparsely populated, largely treeless landscape that is used primarily for agriculture. But it is these same qualities that also make the region one of the last good places for prairie chickens, a native species that is listed as endangered. inWisconsin and is in disrepair throughout the Midwest.

The Buena Vista Nature Reserve covers more than 12,000 acres near the proposed development site and is home to two-thirds of the state’s total prairie chicken population, the Wisconsin Wildlife FederationThe group filed a request as an intervenor in the state’s ongoing approval process, which is being led by the Public Service Commission.

“It’s being treated like a trial, with testimonies, witnesses and rebuttals. We just have a personal stake in this process and want to be involved at a higher level,” says WWF Executive Director Cody Kamrowski Outdoor living. He says it’s the group’s first time getting involved with the PSC. “We signed up as an intervenor because there wasn’t really another conservation group that would come to the table and we were well-suited for that position.”

Kamrowski makes it abundantly clear that WWF supports renewable energy development in Wisconsin, including the Vista Sands solar project. He says the group and its supporters are simply asking the PSC to reduce the size of the project by 20 to 30 percent. That reduction would include buffers between the large solar arrays and the adjacent protected areas that serve as breeding grounds for prairie chickens. They worry that the massive solar arrays being built—along with the associated fences, roads and other infrastructure—will harm local populations of the birds, which need large, open spaces to breed and thrive.

Read more: Can wildlife and clean energy coexist in the West?

While more research is needed on the effects of renewable energy projects on prairie chickens, previous studies have shown that the birds will do anything to avoid power lines, roads and other signs of human development. Similar conversations are going on in the West about renewable energy and sage grouse projectsa species closely related to prairie chickens and also extremely sensitive to human development.

“We are being beaten up a bit, because there are enough groups that [pushing] “Renewable energy at any price — regardless of what the local impact is,” Kamrowski says. “That’s the fine line we’re trying to walk. We support renewable energy and solar, but we have to consider the local impact on wildlife.”

That impact could (and likely would) extend to other species as well, he says. The Buena Vista Wildlife Area and surrounding public lands in Portage County are home to many white-tailed deer, wild turkey and coyote, all of which provide opportunities for local hunters.

Kamrowski clarified that the current proposal for Vista Sands does not include construction on public lands, and that most of the acreage earmarked for development is private farmland. (Under the current framework, farmers offer their acreage to Doral as part of a lucrative 25-year lease.) However, many of the large solar arrays would be built on acreage adjacent to Portage County’s scattered wildlife refuges, which are home to prairie chickens and other wildlife.

Kamrowski raises two main concerns about such a scheme: In addition to closing off migration routes and scaring away wild birds and other animals, Kamrowski fears that hunters will be less inclined to hunt among the vast rows of solar panels.

“In hunting safety, they teach you to know your target and beyond that, and if there’s structure around you instead of open farm fields, people aren’t going to shoot in that direction,” Kamrowski explained. “So it takes away from the recreational value of that property to some extent.”

Hunters aren’t the only ones opposing the size and scale of the solar project. Kamrowski says WWF has been supported as an intervenor by other conservation nonprofits, such as the Dane County Conservation League and the Wisconsin Ornithological Society —both of which have acquired and protected some of the best remaining prairie chicken habitat in and around the Buena Vista Wildlife Area.

“That’s what makes this all so powerful. You have hunting groups and then you have non-consumer birding groups. That really speaks to the importance of this and the uniform message that everyone has.”

What is the next step for the project?

In July, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources published a Environmental Impact Assessment for the Vista Sands Solar Project. The DNR determined that the project, as currently proposed, could have a negative impact on the local prairie chicken population and provided recommendations for how the PSC should proceed with the approval.

The DNR’s primary recommendation is to remove 10 of the proposed primary solar array areas, along with four alternative locations. The agency is also asking regulators to consider alternative locations that would have less impact on wildlife, as the company currently leases an additional 2,900 acres in the county that are not included in the current project footprint.

Read more: The toughest grouse hunts are always worth it

Kamrowski says the DNR’s recommendation dovetails with WWF’s own request to reduce the project’s environmental footprint by 20 to 30 percent and to establish a buffer zone between the solar panels and associated infrastructure and adjacent natural areas.

“Finally we did a GIS analysis and [the two] recommendations actually matched perfectly…the DNR just did it [their analysis] “We’re going to do it by solar panels and not by miles,” Kamrowski said. “So we just said we’re going to adopt the DNR recommendation, just to keep it consistent between the two.”

Kamrowski says the PSC has until January 2025 to make a decision on the Vista Sands project. The agency is currently accepting public comment on the project, but that window closes Friday. (Click here (to comment.) He says there has already been an outpouring of responses, but he hopes more hunters will speak out and show their support for the DNR’s recommendation to scale down the project.

“It’s all about environmentally friendly, sustainable energy locations,” Kamrowski says. “And I think we can find that balance.”