The Best Management Practices (BMPs) presented through this tool were developed to address key wildlife conservation resource concerns that may have a nexus with renewable energy development and/or the transmission of that energy to population centers. These BMPs support the group’s objectives of: 1) assisting the renewable energy industry in New Mexico to reach its project development and transmission goals and 2) enabling the conservation community to meet its goals.

These BMPs are intended to be 1) useful to prospective developers of wind, solar, and geothermal energy projects, and associated transmission, non-governmental stakeholders, landowners, government resource agencies and others; 2) applied to utility-scale energy projects using current commercial technologies; 3) scientifically sound while having wide applicability to diverse projects in various settings; and 4) flexible and not rigidly applied in every situation.

These BMPs were developed voluntarily. In their current form, they are not binding and are not regulatory in nature. The BMPs reflect reasonable applications of the best available science at the time of drafting and will be periodically updated as new science or technology emerges. These BMPs apply to new projects and should not necessarily apply to operational energy generation projects or those in advanced development. However, this does not mean that companies with operational facilities or those in advanced development should not review these BMPs for potential applicability to their current projects.

New Mexico Wind & Wildlife Collaborative

The New Mexico Wind and Wildlife Collaborative (NMWWC) is an informal collaborative effort between the renewable energy industry and the conservation community to constructively and proactively address wildlife resource concerns related to renewable energy development in New Mexico.

We believe that renewable energy development is appropriate and desired in New Mexico. However, we also acknowledge that with any development there may be issues related to wildlife and the conservation of our natural resources. The NMWWC has developed reasonable Best Management Practices (BMPs) that have been agreed upon by participating members from industry, agencies, landowners, academics and the conservation community. These Best Management Practices are intended to help guide the placement of renewable energy development facilities and the transmission of that energy so wildlife resource concerns may be avoided, minimized or mitigated.

Use the Southern Plains Wind & Wildlife Planner to find the priority issues that may impact a wind farm location and download applicable shapefiles and Best Management Practices (BMPs).

NM WWC Participants

Renewables Industry & Utilities

Landowners & Associations

  • Coalition of Renewable Energy Landowners (CRELA)
  • FREDA
  • Tramperos Wind Energy Association

Environmental Consultants

Science & Conservation Community

Agencies

Other organizations observing the effort and providing important contributions include Bird's Eye View, New Mexico Electric Cooperatives, and Congressman Ben Lujan.

 

 

Background This website was made possible by a grant from the Wildlife Conservation Society's Wildlife Action Opportunities Fund. Partners in states throughout the Southern Great Plains worked together to develop a science-based site selection and mitigation framework that describes avoidance, minimization, and/or mitigation actions appropriate to a range of environmental impacts that have a nexus with renewable energy development. The collaborative organization working in each state reached consensus on a set of species and ecosystems/habitats that may be impacted by wind development and drafted best conservation practices for them. Final determinations on species and habitats to include in the framework were made based on the scientific merits of the nexus between renewable energy and the species or ecosystems of concern.