xs7hy9e06w?redirect_to=http://www.blm.gov/pgdata/etc/medialib/blm/wo/blm_library/tech_notes.Par.29872.File.dat/TN_444

• Road decommissioning and
restoration is proposed as a Dry
Lake SEZ regional mitigation
activity. The Gold Butte ACEC
has already completed road
designations. Road designations
have not been completed on the
other ACECs.
• Reseeding burn scars is
proposed as a Dry Lake SEZ
regional mitigation activity.
The Gold Butte ACEC suffered
multiple wildfires in 2005 and
2006 and could benefit from
restoration. The other ACECs
have had fewer fires.
• The Gold Butte ACEC is an
important landscape corridor
between Lake Mead and the
Virgin Mountains for game
species managed by the Nevada
Department of Wildlife.
The Gold Butte ACEC was
established in the Las Vegas RMP
(BLM 1998). It has an area of
approximately 350,000 acres (1416
km 2 ). The primary resource values
listed in the RMP are:
• Cultural and historic resources.
• Scenic values.
• Wildlife habitat.
• Special status species habitat.
• Botanical resources.
The Las Vegas RMP also
specifies the resource constraints of
the Gold Butte ACEC, which include:
• Closed to mineral entry, sale, and
leasing, except for fluid minerals
under certain circumstances.
• Closed to grazing.
• Managed for wild burros at an
appropriate management level
of 98 animals.
• Off-road vehicle use limited to
existing roads and trails.
• Closed to off-road vehicle events.
• Right-of-way avoidance.
The resource values found in
the Gold Butte ACEC are threatened
by: unauthorized activities,
including off-road vehicle use,
illegal dumping, and trespass
livestock grazing; wildfire; and weed
infestation. Existing burned areas,
unauthorized roads and trails, and
areas disturbed by other activities
await funding for rehabilitation.
Neutralizing these threats and
restoring altered ecological systems
are the focus of the regional
mitigation proposed for this area.
Two action-specific mitigation
goals and nine mitigation
objectives are recommended to be
undertaken to compensate for the
unavoidable impacts associated
with the development of the Dry
Lake SEZ (see Table 2-5). Some of
these objectives are associated
with preventing degradation in
the Gold Butte ACEC. The total cost
of affecting the protection of this
ACEC for 30 years, the expected
term of a solar development rightof-way,
is about $9 million. The
Gold Butte ACEC is about 350,000
acres, and the cost is about $25.92
per acre. The total mitigation fee
expected to be collected for the
Dry Lake SEZ if full build-out of
the 3,591 developable acres in the
SEZ occurs is approximately $6.6
million (see Section 2.6). Mitigation
funds from a single SEZ will not
likely be the only source of funding
for a given regional mitigation
effort, such as restoration in the
Gold Butte ACEC. State and federal
agencies, including the BLM,
should identify opportunities for
pooling financial resources from
additional developments required
to implement regional mitigation
actions.
The restoration goals in the
Gold Butte ACEC are to:
1. Prevent further degradation
of the ACEC, and ensure the
durability of the conservation
investment by:
a. Augmenting BLM law
enforcement capacity
sufficient to maintain
ranger patrols in the ACEC.
b. Providing a monitor to track
activities in and impacts to
the ACEC.
c. Building the capacity to
respond in a timely manner
to activities that threaten
resource values.
d. Providing treatment
for noxious weeds and
maintaining fuel breaks to
protect the area.
2. Restoring creosote-bursage
vegetation on closed roads,
burn scars, and other
anthropogenic impacts.
Included in this goal is the
procurement of genetically
appropriate native seed to
complete these restoration
activities.
30 • REGIONAL MITIGATION STRATEGY FOR THE DRY LAKE SOLAR ENERGY ZONE • TECHNICAL NOTE 444