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This snowy owl was spotted in 2022 in the Fort Edward Important Birding Area. The Grassland Bird Trust is willing to end its battle with Boralex after the energy company agreed to help the organization buy land for bird habitat and shrink the size of its proposed solar array.<\/p>\n
Lori Van Buren\/Times Union<\/p>\n
Solar panels will soon cover 530 acres of the designated Important Birding Area in Fort Edward. The developer originally proposed placing panels on 750 acres.<\/p>\n
Courtesy of Grassland Bird Trust<\/p>\n
FORT EDWARD\u00a0\u2014 The Grassland Bird Trust expects to withdraw its pending appeal<\/a> with the state Office of Renewable Energy Siting to limit a Canadian company\u2019s plans for a solar array in exchange for funding to buy more habitat for threatened and endangered birds.<\/p>\n The agreement ends more than five years of conflict between the not-for-profit land trust<\/a> and Boralex<\/a>, an energy company. It also includes shrinking the footprint of a 100-megawatt array from the 750 acres\u00a0it originally proposed to 530 acres.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Boralex\u2019s undisclosed financial contribution to the trust will expand the 153 acres it currently owns in the 102,000-acre Important Birding Area in Washington County. Trust leaders say the additional acreage will help the survival of short-eared owls, Northern harriers, bobolinks, Eastern meadowlarks and others that feast and nest on the ground.<\/p>\n \u201cThis agreement is the result of years of meaningful engagement, thoughtful project design, and a shared understanding of what makes this landscape so important,\u201d said Darren\u00a0Suarez, Boralex\u2019s vice president of public affairs and communications. \u201cWe appreciate the opportunity to continue working with the Grassland Bird Trust and local stakeholders to help conserve this critical grassland habitat in Washington County Grassland Conservation Center while advancing New York\u2019s clean energy goals.\u201d<\/p>\n In an interview Monday, Terry Griffin, chair of the Grassland Bird Trust, said the agreement will help the organization \u201cachieve our mission to preserve grassland habitat for grassland birds.\u201d<\/p>\n Make the Times Union a Preferred Source on Google to see more of our journalism when you search.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n