SUPERVISORS SEEK LOCAL ECONOMIC BENEFITS
FROM BLM PROJECTS
114
Mile Transmission Line near Vicksburg/Quartzsite/Ehrenberg
The La Paz County Board of
Supervisors requests immediate input from the public, local environmental
organizations, tourism/recreation focused businesses and other stakeholders to
comment on ways that La Paz County can better benefit from the multitude of
federal actions that continue to deteriorate the County’s limited tax base. Projects
under federal ownership have a history of contributing little towards the
County’s financial vitality yet they still require services paid for by
taxpayers including fire, police and other social services. The Board of
Supervisors seeks local support in demanding additional revenue streams from
all governmental or commercial entities benefiting financially from the
County’s finite resources to ensure that such projects are fairly contributing
to a sustainable environmental or economic future for La Paz County.
The Board of Supervisors seek
constituent written or emailed comments prior to the BLM hosted community
meeting on June 14 in Quartzsite to discuss social and economic impacts specifically
related to the Ten West Link, a
large transmission line that has been proposed by a California regulatory
entity to bisect one hundred miles through the center of La Paz County to
connect a substation in Maricopa County with one outside of Blythe CA. The $300 million proposed transmission line
comes shortly after the BLM proposed a Solar Entitlement Zone (SEZ) that designates
thousands of federal acres east of Brenda to host a solar project for the
federal governments’ benefit --- property identified to support future
residential growth. In addition, the US
military has requested several hundred acres be added to the Yuma Proving
Grounds. And without any communication with local stakeholders, the Bill
Williams River area was recently removed by the federal government from the tax
base with current efforts to isolate the area from recreational use.
La Paz County Board of Supervisors is
requesting cooperation from the State of Arizona’s congressional delegation as
well as State legislators to assist the County in enacting legislation whereby BLM
would deed some of the 70% plus land owned by the Federal Government for local
ownership to support economic development.
In return, La Paz County could lease some of the property and
participate in the revenue generated from renewable energy projects instead of
receiving little to nothing for the resulting negative impacts created. A location where this approach has worked has
been in the City of Boulder in Nevada that expects to receive more than $600
million in local revenues from over several solar projects’ expected lifetimes for leases
on property deeded to them by the BLM.
Proponents of proposed renewable
energy projects within La Paz County tout jobs
and multiplier effects from services purchased locally. But research has shown
that most of the construction jobs with these projects are temporary with
unionized workers being bused in from California. Full time jobs are few. Cheap energy is
delivered to California but not available locally. Taxes are collected on expensive services and
equipment but typically at California Ports outside of our jurisdiction. While only minimal amounts of goods and
services are purchased locally in the form of hotels or products. The negative
impacts from these massive projects will forever change our desert aesthetics
with impacts potentially including noise, safety concerns, possible health
impacts and changes to allowed recreational use which may lead to the removal
of land for residential, commercial or industrial development.
It is time for the federal government
to recognize the incremental negative impacts to our financial sustainability
and instill fairness in dealing with La Paz County’s ample natural resources
and geographic placement. Please email your
Supervisor or mail your comments about Ten West Link to:
EMAIL
District 1 Supervisor D. L. Wilson - dlwilson@co.la-paz.az.us
District 2 King E. Clapperton - kingclapperton@co.la-paz.az.us
District 3 Holly Irwin - hollyirwin@co.la-paz.az.us
MAIL
La Paz County Board of Supervisors
BLM COMMENT
1108 Joshua Street
Parker, AZ 85344
Plan to attend the meeting in
Quartzsite on June 14 at 12:30-5:00 at Senior Center
40 S. Moon Mountain Ave., Quartzsite
RSVP
to: Joe
Incardine, at (801) 560-7135 or jincardi@blm.gov.
If you are unable to attend, please send comments to:
Ten West Link Project, c/o Joe
Incardine,
BLM Arizona State Office
One North Central Avenue Ste. 800
Phoenix, AZ 85004
