Little by little, humans are taking over wildlife habitats, and this trend will only continue. Many critics of renewable energy focus primarily on its downsides, such as the space required for solar fields and the impact on wildlife habitats. Nevertheless, solar parks are generally positive. In fact, it seems that green energy proponents are depriving critics of their ammunition. Case in point: A solar farm in Oregon is tackling the problem of wildlife migration head-on by building a wildlife corridor. His goal? Help deer and elk migrate, minimizing the farm’s impact on local wildlife.
This isn’t the first time a solar installation has taken steps to protect the environment. After all, a solar farm in Minnesota has helped grow local insect populations, while in California, solar panels have become a refuge for endangered San Joaquin kit foxes. However, a solar farm project in Oregon, managed by Invenergy and scheduled for completion by 2029, is taking a proactive approach. Because the facility will operate in a wilderness area that is home to deer and elk, the 600-foot corridor will pass directly through the facility. Thus, this will allow free migration and provide easy access to water sources that these species have been observed to have.
Of course, such a concept is quite new and there is no research available showing how animals respond to corridors. No one knows how wide the corridor should be for wildlife to feel comfortable. Therefore, the Oregon Corridor will also present a unique research opportunity. The facility will track the animals’ movements with game cameras to see if they move freely through the hallway.
How solar farms protect wildlife
Many non-solar installations pay no attention to how they will affect the broader ecosystem. As a result, dozens of data centers are expected to be built in the United States despite drought problems in some regions. In contrast, solar farm operators are finding new ways to take animal species into account from the design phase.
Some of these strategies have already proven effective. While we wait to see how beneficial wildlife corridors will be for larger animals, there is an amazing sustainable practice for smaller species. A permeable fence, achieved either by raising the bottom of the fence or by upgrading to a coarse mesh fence, allows small animals to pass through and keeps out intruders and large animals. Scientists have been tracking how it works at a North Carolina facility, and the early data is more than promising.
The Oregon Solar Farm will open around 2029, and with it, a 1,900-acre conservation area. Combined with the migration corridor, this new habitat could be enough to minimize the effect on wildlife. No facility is perfect, of course, and everything humans build affects both flora and fauna. Still, making design changes and doing everything we can to accommodate creatures large and small is undoubtedly a step in the right direction and a great way to silence the naysayers who claim that renewable energy is as damaging as fossil fuels.
