When Small Creatures Stopped Major Developments in Their Tracks

Large solar farms in California’s Mojave Desert were promoted as essential steps toward cleaner energy, but several projects encountered resistance because they overlapped with desert tortoise habitat. The animals move slowly across large territories, making them especially vulnerable to construction vehicles, fencing, road building, and sudden changes to the landscape. Developers were required to conduct extensive wildlife surveys before clearing land and, in some cases, relocate tortoises under carefully controlled conditions. Those efforts added time, expense, and uncertainty to projects already facing complicated permitting processes.