Wind on Federal & State Lands
Wind on Federal Lands Ed Cannon, National Renewable Energy Laboratory
The federal government controls nearly 650 million acres, or about 28%, of the land in the United States. It controls more than half the land in the western part of the country (more than 60% in Utah and 80% in Nevada). Roughly 96% of federal land is administered by four agencies. The federal agencies with the largest land holdings are:
• Bureau of Land Management (BLM): 264.7 million acres (41%)
• National Forest Service (NFS): 191.6 million acres (29%)
• U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS): 91.6 million acres (13%)
• National Park Service (NPS): 78 million acres (12%).
About one-third of BLM land (89 million acres) is in Alaska. Of the remaining 21 million acres of federal land, nearly 20 million acres are administered by the Department of Defense (DOD), making it the fifth largest federal land manager. Although large tracts are set aside for wilderness areas, wildlife refuges, and parks, a huge amount of federal land is still available for development. Because of their different missions, the various federal land management agencies have widely differing procedures for permitting the lands for wind energy development. The agencies of most interest to wind developers are BLM, DOD, and NFS. Except for showcase wind turbines at visitor centers and similar small wind applications, it is unlikely that lands administered by the USFWS and NPS will be used for significant wind projects in the near future.
BLM In 2001, the Secretary of the Interior directed the department to examine the procedures for permitting new energy projects on lands under its administration. The BLM has since moved aggressively to streamline its permitting procedures and has used wind projects as the pilot technology. In a few short months, permit applications for wind prospecting and wind project development on BLM lands have increased from a small handful to more than 150.
DOD In FY 2002, the Military Construction Bill contained a set-aside of $6 million for studying renewable energy potential (wind, solar, and geothermal only) on or near military bases in the United States. DOD bases with the best potential for economically viable wind energy projects will be identified, and a list of the bases will be published. Meanwhile, individual bases with large land areas and good wind potential can be approached individually to explore the possibility of commercial wind energy development. Successful projects will not only avoid interference with the base’s mission, but will also find creative ways to compensate the base for land use that will benefit the local military units. (Funds from traditional land leases go directly to the U.S. General Fund, not to the base.)
NFS The NFS has expressed a willingness to follow a procedure similar to that used by BLM to identify appropriate lands for wind energy development and ease the permitting process.
NPS The NPS held an Energy Summit in Phoenix, Arizona, in January 2003. The purpose of this summit was to raise awareness and provide education about (1) energy development activities in and around parks in the western United States (including extraction, processing, transmission, and generation); (2) potential impacts and impact-reduction strategies of energy development; (3) planning and decision making processes; and (4) opportunities for reducing energy consumption. The Summit is targeted to park superintendents and management chiefs from the ten western states.
Wind on State Lands Terri Walters, National Renewable Energy Laboratory
In considering wind development, one important landowner should not be overlooked: the state government. Most states manage a variety of lands, but the primary target for wind development is state-managed “trust lands.” Trust lands, which are used primarily to generate revenue for public schools, were historically given to the states by the federal government in exchange for the states not taxing federal property. The trust lands program began with the establishment of the school lands program under the Articles of Confederation in 1785. As stewards overseeing trust land management, state land officials walk a tightrope, providing revenue and benefits today while ensuring the same opportunity for future generations. Twenty-three western states alone manage more than 447 million acres of land.15 Wind development can be an attractive solution to states that have viable wind resources on their trust lands. Wind can provide much higher revenue per acre than other typical sources of revenue. An added benefit is that harvesting the wind doesn’t deplete any finite resources. The amounts listed below are examples of annual revenue per acre taken out of service.
Examples of Land Revenue in Texas16 Several western state land offices are already pursuing wind development on state trust lands. The first such wind project was a joint project in west Texas by the Texas General Land Office and the Lower Colorado River Authority, a public utility in central Texas. State wind working groups should determine whether their state trust lands have potential for wind development. If so, including the state land office in the state wind working group will help the land officials access further information about wind potential.
Resources for State Land Officials In addition to involvement in state wind working groups, resources are available to state land officials who are interested in learning more about wind.
Peer Network The Wind Powering America initiative has created a peer network for state lands and wind development. Any land official is welcome to join the WPA Wind and State Lands working group. This peer network allows states to learn from each others’ experiences and provides access to technical assistance, including monthly conference calls, shared resources via e-mail, and other educational opportunities. As of April 2003, more than a dozen states have participated in this effort.
Web Resources The Wind Powering America Web site now has a page specifically designed for state land officials (http://www.windpoweringamerica.gov/state_lands.html). This site includes copies of state policies and wind lease agreements, wind studies relevant to state lands, contact information for the Wind and State Lands working group, and presentations from the April 2003 Workshop on Wind and State Lands.
Analysis of State Land Potential The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has offered to help analyze state lands for potential wind development. By overlaying wind resources with land use, transmission capacity, and load centers, this analysis can target the portions of state land that warrant further study. NREL has already provided this analysis for the federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the state land office in Montana. This service is free to states where wind resource assessment maps are current and verified.
Inclusion in Federal Land-Use Study The BLM, which is updating its land use analyses throughout the West, has offered to include adjacent state trust lands in the public land analyses without cost so that the states can have additional information to help determine whether wind or other renewable energy development is appropriate on their trust lands. States can access further information on this opportunity at the Web site listed above.
Workshops At the request of several state land officials, a workshop on wind and state lands was held in April 2003. Presentations and materials from this workshop are available at the WPA Web site listed above. If there is enough interest from states, another workshop will be held in FY 2004.
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