Washington, D.C. (ACHP PRESS RELEASE) — The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) today announced it is terminating consultation on the development of a Section 106 agreement with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for the Lava Ridge Wind Project in Jerome, Lincoln, and Minidoka counties, Idaho. Pursuant to its responsibilities under the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), the ACHP will prepare formal comments on the project and submit them to the BLM director. Once the BLM director considers and responds to the ACHP’s comments, the Section 106 review for this undertaking will be concluded.
In accordance with the Section 106 implementing regulations, the ACHP is requesting that consulting parties and the public provide their views on the undertaking and its effects on historic properties. Comments are requested by Monday, September 23. Please submit comments to ACHP BLM Liaison Rodney Parker Jr. at rparker@achp.gov. All comments will be part of the public record and reviewed by the ACHP prior to the finalization and transmittal of its formal comments to the BLM director.
The proposed undertaking includes the construction, operation, maintenance, and eventual decommissioning of the wind energy project by Magic Valley Energy, LLC, within a BLM right-of-way (ROW). As currently proposed, the undertaking will consist of 241 wind turbines across 104,000 acres along with new substations, transmission lines, access roads, and related infrastructure. The ACHP has been participating in consultation since April 2021, when BLM determined that the project may have substantial impacts on numerous known historic properties, including the Minidoka National Historic Site and Wilson Butte Cave, although BLM recognized that additional identification efforts would be needed to fully assess the project’s effects on historic properties. In consultation with the Idaho State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO) and several consulting parties, BLM determined it would develop a programmatic agreement (PA) to allow for phased identification and evaluation, in addition to the development of a Historic Property Management Plan and site-specific Historic Property Treatment Plans.
While the consultation process led to the development of a PA signed by some consulting parties, the Idaho SHPO declined to sign it and terminated further consultation on August 9, 2024, citing widespread opposition to the project from various stakeholders, including the Idaho State Legislature, Idaho’s congressional delegation, Tribes, and the Japanese American community. The SHPO’s local expertise was essential for effectively implementing the PA’s phased identification and evaluation efforts in addition to mitigating adverse effects to historic properties. Without the SHPO’s participation, the ACHP concluded it could not assume the SHPO’s role or effectively resolve the adverse effects outlined in the PA. Given these limitations, the ACHP determined that further consultation would not lead to feasible measures to resolve these effects and therefore terminated consultation. In accordance with 36 CFR § 800.7(c), the ACHP will develop its final advisory comments on this undertaking to the head of the agency.
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