Premium Energy has re-applied for a preliminary permit from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for a hydro pumped storage project south of Olancha. A preliminary permit allows them to do studies, but not ground-disturbing activities. If Premium Energy wants to do studies that disturb the ground, then they have to get permits from the appropriate agencies to do so. A preliminary permit gives the proponent first "dibs" on a location. [ Read more...]

The Forest Service closed the scoping period for the Polaris Exploration Project on February 16 2024, a gold exploratory drilling project in the southeast corner of the Bodie Hills in Nevada. The Polaris project is between the Spring Peak gold exploration project and the Bald Peak gold exploration project and it overlaps with the Sawtooth Ridge gold exploration project. The Polaris project is five times bigger than all three of those other projects combined. [ Read more...] 

What's a PEIS? It's a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement which means they are identifying a basic set of rules that would apply across all new projects. In this case, it is the rules that the BLM would go by to decide if a company could build a large-scale solar project in a particular spot on public BLM land. The BLM has proposed 5 alternatives. All of them would exclude land based on a list of criteria called resource-based exclusions. Alternatives 2-5 would put a cap on the slope, limiting solar projects to locations with less than 10% slope.  [Read more...]

The Whiskey Tango Fondo Cycling Event is returning again this year on April 28. It is a cycling event from Independence to Diaz Lake through the Alabama Hills. Last year we volunteered at the aid stations and received a nice donation for our help. If you are interested in spending half a day with us at an aid station, contact Lynn at chairrolg@gmail.com. We'd love your help!