Proposed solar farm in Fort Edward threatens habitat for endangered grassland birds

FORT EDWARD, NY (WRGB) — FORT EDWARD, N.Y. — It’s a clash between clean energy and conservation. A plan to build a large solar farm in Washington County is sparking debate—not over whether New York should build renewable energy, but where.

The project is set to be built on protected habitat that grassland birds, like the state-endangered short-eared owl, rely on to survive. It’s also where a company now wants to construct a massive solar farm spanning hundreds of acres. The proposal is raising questions over whether New York is willing to sacrifice conservation in the name of clean energy.

The Fort Edward Solar Project is being developed by the company Boralex. It would generate 100 megawatts of power—enough to supply thousands of homes—and cover roughly 700 acres of land in the town of Fort Edward. All of it would sit inside the Washington County Grassland Bird Conservation Center—land specifically set aside by the state Department of Environmental Conservation to safeguard what’s left of New York’s grassland bird habitat.

“The short-eared owl and the snowy owl. There’s also other threatened species as well. There’s around 12 in this area,” said Alex Fasulo, an advocate and Schuylerville farm owner.

Fasulo has built a large following online discussing farmland preservation and wildlife conservation.

“A solar farm of this size—five to seven hundred acres—which then you’re gonna need the roads, fencing, parking, all of that comes to more than 1,800 acres, is going to displace two different endangered species that need open grassland to hunt and breed and feed,” said Fasulo. “They can’t swoop below solar panels to snatch up mice and rats.”

State regulators have found the project would impact more than 560 acres of habitat. The developer said it will offset the loss by conserving one acre of grassland habitat for every acre impacted by the project.

“The location of the solar farm has ecological impacts that are going to ripple far beyond Fort Edward. And we were discussing all of the different threatened and endangered species that are going to obviously move that much closer to extinction if a solar farm of this size is allowed to go in on such important habitat,” Fasulo added.

The project will sit on a patchwork of privately owned land, where many farmers trying to make ends meet.

“It usually was related to taxes or the expensive costs to maintain land or run farms in New York State,” said Fasulo.

ORES—the Office of Renewable Energy and Siting—is still reviewing the proposal. CBS6 reached out to them and the DEC for comment but haven’t heard back.