Idaho House passes memorial urging federal halt to Lava Ridge wind project on BLM lands

The Idaho House on Feb. 20 passed House Joint Memorial 5 asking Congress and the president to halt the Lava Ridge wind project on Bureau of Land Management lands and to reconsider approvals the speakers said would affect communities in the Magic Valley.

Representative (District 25), who asked unanimous consent to place the memorial at the top of the third-reading calendar, described Lava Ridge as “a major wind turbine farm that’s been planned for the Magic Valley,” said federal approvals have continued despite local opposition and argued the project would require extensive roads and construction that could harm local communities and groundwater. Representative John Madelford (District 26) told colleagues that local officials and citizens across affected districts had uniformly opposed the project and quoted national figures to make the point: “No means no,” he said.

Supporters at the microphone said the project was approved on federal lands by the BLM in a downsized form (from roughly 400 turbines to about 231, according to floor remarks), and that a recent executive-order review at the federal level had imposed a temporary moratorium on further action. House members cited concerns that the turbines’ construction and access roads could affect domestic wells and the aquifer beneath the Magic Valley and said much of the electricity would be transmitted out of state rather than used locally.

The memorial’s sponsors characterized the measure as a formal appeal and a letter to federal officials rather than an exercise of direct state authority over federal lands. Representative (District 25) said the memorial would “acknowledge the work” federal agencies have done while reiterating the legislature’s opposition and asking federal decisionmakers to reconsider impacts on Idaho communities.

Debate closed without recorded amendment and the House adopted the joint memorial by voice vote; the Clerk announced the memorial had passed and the title approved. The memorial will be transmitted to the Senate for its consideration.

What happened next: the House also placed and considered House Concurrent Resolution 8—another legislative expression opposing the same project—and passed that concurrent resolution by recorded vote. The legislative measures do not change federal approvals or project permits but formally register the Idaho Legislature’s opposition and request federal reconsideration.