Interior Department Moves to Cancel Reckless Biden-era Approval of Lava Ridge Wind Project

WASHINGTON— Department of the Interior Secretary Doug Burgum is restoring common sense to American energy policy by reversing the Biden administration’s misguided, last-minute push to approve the Lava Ridge Wind Project, an enormous and unpopular 1,000-megawatt wind facility in southern Idaho, during the final days of the former president’s term. Under President Donald J. Trump, the Department of the Interior will no longer provide preferential treatment towards unreliable, intermittent power sources that harm rural communities, livelihoods and the land, such as the Lava Ridge Wind Project and the radical Green New Scam agenda that burdens our nation and public lands.

Consistent with President Trump's memorandum, titled "Temporary Withdrawal of All Areas on the Outer Continental Shelf from Offshore Leasing and Review of the Federal Government’s Leasing and Permitting Practices for Wind Projects," the Department reviewed the Biden administration's reckless December 2024 decision to approve the Lava Ridge Wind Project, which would have covered nearly 57,447 acres with up to 231 wind turbines. Following its review, the Department discovered crucial legal deficiencies in the issuance of the approval, including unique statutory criteria that were ignored.  

"Under President Donald Trump's bold leadership, the Department is putting the brakes on deficient, unreliable energy and putting the American people first," said Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum. "By reversing the Biden administration's thoughtless approval of the Lava Ridge Wind Project, we are protecting tens of thousands of acres from harmful wind policy while shielding the interests of rural Idaho communities. This decisive action defends the American taxpayer, safeguards our land, and averts what would have been one of the largest, most irresponsible wind projects in the nation." 

Since the project’s inception, Idahoans at the local, state and federal levels have voiced unified opposition to this wind project. In January, Governor Brad Little signed E.O. 2025-01 "Gone with the Lava Ridge Wind Project Act," which directed all state agencies to cooperate with the Trump administration's review process, and during the review, multiple state agencies provided the Bureau of Land Management with letters describing a significant lack of consultation throughout the original review process for the project. In addition, in February, the Idaho House of Representatives unanimously voted to oppose Lava Ridge.  

The Department of the Interior will continue its review of wind energy leasing and permitting practices, with a focus on assessing the impact these developments have on our nation’s natural resources and communities. 

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has approved the Lava Ridge Wind Project northeast of Twin Falls, Idaho, which could power as many as 500,000 homes with clean energy, while creating hundreds of jobs and supporting local and regional economies. The project footprint reduces the area disturbed from the initial proposal by half, decreases the number of turbines from 400 to 241 (231 on BLM-managed lands and 10 on lands managed by the State of Idaho) and imposes a maximum height limit of 660 feet for turbines, consistent with extensive public and community feedback regarding the protection of sensitive natural and cultural resources.

The BLM's decision authorizes 231 wind turbines and related infrastructure, which are expected to disturb 992 acres within a 38,535-acre area of BLM-managed public lands in Jerome, Lincoln, and Minidoka counties. The project approval reflects a careful balance of clean energy development with the protection of natural, cultural, and socioeconomic resources on this historically significant landscape. The record of decision directs required mitigation measures to protect these values and defers future development proposals on over 212,000 acres in the area until the adequacy of the mitigation measures is assessed by the Bureau.

“The Interior Department is playing a pivotal role in tackling the climate crisis and boosting the clean energy economy to provide communities across the nation with clean, reliable energy,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management Dr. Steve Feldgus. “The Department recognizes the deep history and significance of this landscape and appreciates the tremendous collaborative effort that went into minimizing the project’s impact on both the visual character of the area and the physical environment.”

“The BLM spent hundreds of hours in the field and in conference rooms talking with Native American leaders, Japanese American community members, cooperating agencies, ranchers, and a broad range of people with deep ties to the Magic Valley, who all helped shape the proposal,” said BLM Director Tracy Stone-Manning. “Those discussions led to a final decision that balances clean energy development that the country needs and the protection of resources that are vital to the natural and cultural history of the West.”  

As part of the process, the BLM responded to a nomination for protection of the landscape’s importance to the Minidoka National Historic Site by enacting interim measures to limit additional development and protect cultural resources found in the former Minidoka War Relocation Center on approximately 15,000 acres of public lands. The interim measures will stay in place until the area is further considered for designation as an Area of Critical Environmental Concern during a formal planning process.

The Record of Decision adjusts the proposed project configuration so that the closest turbine to the Minidoka National Historic Site would be nine miles away. It also reduces potential impacts to sage grouse, large wildlife migration routes and winter concentration areas, cultural resources, Jerome County Airport and agricultural aviation uses, public land ranchers, and adjacent private landowners. The BLM’s decision also reduces impacts by requiring seasonal restrictions during construction, private property setbacks, and ensuring the developer coordinates activities with the ranching community

In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Shoshone Field Office has published a Notice of Availability (NOA) in the Federal Register for the final EIS for the Lava Ridge Wind Project. Please note the final EIS does not constitute a decision on the project. The BLM will prepare a Record of Decision (ROD) and will notify the public of the availability of the ROD no sooner than 30 days after the final EIS NOA is published. The final EIS and supporting materials can be accessed by clicking on "Documents" on the left side of this web page.

The final EIS is the culmination of more than 30 months of public outreach and analysis that included the consideration of more than 1,400 scoping comments and more than 11,000 public comments on the draft EIS. The final EIS provides an analysis of the proposed action, four additional action alternatives, and the No Action Alternative. A detailed summary of substantive comments and the BLM’s responses to those comments is included in the final EIS as Appendix 14.

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