The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the USDA Forest Service (FS) released a joint Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) in October which impacts millions of acres of land in 11 Western states and Alaska.
A whopping 530 millions acres of land in the west have geothermal potential. Of that land, around 248 million acres are owned by BLM and NFS and were therefore considered in the study.
The recommendations included putting 92 million acres into consideration for geothermal leasing. 155 million acres were deemed inappropriate for a number of reasons. Among the areas closed to leasing are: wilderness areas, national recreation areas, national parks, fish hatcheries, Indian trust or restricted lands, national monuments, national conservation areas, national historic or scenic areas. Among the lands open to leasing, the study further sought places within a certain proximity to power transmission lines.
As of January, 2005, 194 lease applications were submitted. 34 were still pending earlier this year. In Oregon, there were applications for 4 sites in the Mount Hood National Forest, and one in the Williamette National Forest. In Washington, 4 were submitted for the Mt. Baker National Forest.
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