Conflicting views on TransWest project

Opinions are crossed on which of the four routes would be the best for the TransWest Transmission Line project.

As of now, there are still four potential routes being considered for the 725-mile, 600kV, high-voltage direct current project designed to deliver high capacity wind energy from Wyoming to renewable power-needing markets in Nevada, California and Arizona. There is a BLM-preferred route that runs through southern Carbon County and takes the lines closer to Baggs (Route 1-D); a county-proposed route that runs through a small part of eastern Sweetwater County and part of western Carbon County (1-A); another that runs through western Carbon County (1-C); and another that runs almost entirely through eastern Sweetwater County (1-B).

Heather Schultz of the Rawlins Field Office said the BLM’s preferred route will not be visible from the town of Baggs, but will be visible from Highway 789. She said the route’s far visibility distance from the Baggs community and smoother landscape make it a good choice.

“The route will be west of the highway and partially hidden by a big rim, and it will be on a lower landscape,” Schultz said. “There will be less erosion with the route, and it will follow existing roads and infrastructure and not go over as high of a topography level. We know the visibility of the project is a huge worry for people, but the route will not be seen from Baggs.”

Schultz said the BLM’s preferred route was developed and introduced after the three other routes had already been developed and considered. She said the BLM requested to have a fourth option to consider and study for good measure.

“The BLM wanted us to provide another feasible alternative for better analysis in the EIS process,” she said. “A specialist sat down and talked about the different resources. It was the BLM’s goal to find the best feasible alternative.”

Schultz said also the county-preferred route, I-A, is a shorter route that goes over a flat mountain area, but also includes steeper slopes and higher topography levels than Route I-D.

“The route goes over erosive soils and can become more easily eroded because of the slopes,” she said. “Route I-D would go through fairly steep topography. The Cherokee Historical Trail is also a lot closer to the county-preferred/applicant-proposed line 1A.”

On the other side of things, John Farr, Chairman of the Battle Pass Scenic Byway Alliance, Inc. said he thought Route 1-D would affect the area view of and from the town of Baggs and Little Snake River Valley. Farr said he is worried that fewer visitors would be attracted to the area if Route 1-D was implemented, and that the route did not meet all the EIS requirements the BLM set out.

“We’re trying to protect the Little Snake River Valley and keep tourism and business coming through here,” Farr said. “We don’t need to sacrifice Baggs over building these giant things, and we don’t want to litter the countryside. Tourism is the second biggest business in Wyoming, and it helps this whole region. We want to get people into the valley, and the biggest thing is trying to keep it (the line) far away from Baggs.”

Farr said he thought the county-preferred route, I-A, was the best option and drastically less visible from Baggs and Highway 789 than the BLM-preferred route would be. Farr also wrote a letter to the BLM, professing his preference for Route 1A as a better alternative.

“The BLM visual simulations show that I-A is the least visible for people visiting Carbon County and for those residents that regularly use WYDOT 70 and 789,” Farr wrote in his letter. “The Draft EIS clearly shows that I-A Region I has the least miles of disturbance, the least miles of access roads required, the ‘least overall impact of soil resources,’ the least ground disturbance, and the fewest stream crossings. Under Alternative I-A, historic trails and road crossings would be less than under alternatives I-C and I-D but similar to I-B, and overall visibility of the transmission line from the historic trails, road, and highway would be 92 mils under Alternative I-A, which would be less than under I-C and I-D.”

Farr added in his letter that with Route I-D, more than half of Highway 789 would have a view of the transmission lines alongside it.

“This is not smart planning for an area trying to improve our tourist economy, a very important Wyoming industry,” he said in the letter.

BLM Project Manager Sharon Knowlton said Route I-D, which was presented twice to the Carbon County Commission, was not greeted with great negativity during the open house meeting in Baggs.

“The people from Baggs who attended the open house there were happy with it,” she said. “I have found that many people in the county are delighted with it and not adamantly opposed to it.”

Knowlton said also that the lines along Route I-D would not be closely visible from Highway 789.

“If you look off to your left, the closest you would see the lines is from a three-mile distance,” she said.

Schultz said the BLM is still out to make sure the public has its say on which alternative is the best. The BLM will continue to accept all public comments until Sept. 30.

“We’re soliciting public comment and seeing which issues the public thinks are the most important, or what we might have missed,” she said. “That’s why we put out a draft and a comment period, so we could compare and make the best decision. We want to analyze impact and public comment to come up with the best alternative.”