Panel weighs in on balancing solar development with environmental protection in the Adirondacks

Wildlife monitoring, parkwide planning identified as critical steps

By Zachary Matson 

A trio of speakers shared insight into solar development both within the Blue Line and across the state, highlighting the need to balance a thirst for renewable energy with farmland preservation and environmental protection. 

The Adirondack Park Agency should develop parkwide maps and priorities for siting future solar projects and expand long-term monitoring of how new installations impact Adirondack wildlife, panelists said at Adirondack North Country Association’s annual clean energy conference.

Jackie Bowen, conservation director for the Adirondack Council, argued that APA officials should develop a broader strategy for solar projects, mapping where they should and shouldn’t be developed. 

“The agency is tasked with long-range planning and this is such a good example of where they should apply that,” Bowen said. 

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Bowen and other panelists highlighted the importance of siting solar projects to prevent cutting of trees, while also preserving the roughly 100,000 acres of agricultural land within the park. As New York attempts to transition to a renewable energy economy and meet greenhouse gas reduction targets, conflicting demands are pressuring open spaces. There is a need to develop thousands of acres of solar; the state is aiming to boost its forest cover to bolster carbon storage; agricultural land is critical to sustain food systems and communities. 

“There’s a series of demands all to promote the energy transition, a net-zero economy in the state,” said Katie Bills Walsh, a Cornell social scientist who focuses on conservation. “But they are all fighting for the same acres.”

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The Adirondack Mountains are in view from a solar operation in Washington County in Whitehall. Explorer file photo by Cindy Schultz

Assessing how landowners feel about solar

Walsh and colleagues surveyed landowners in rural Washington, St. Lawrence and Genesee counties about their attitudes toward solar development. Walsh reached out to large landowners near transmission lines who would meet the kind of criteria solar developers use to figure out which property owners to solicit with lease offers. 

Farmland owners were twice as likely to strongly oppose large-scale solar development, according to results Walsh shared at the conference. About 36% of respondents in Washington County and 28% in St. Lawrence strongly agreed that solar development would negatively impact farming. Nearly two-thirds of farmland owners surveyed had been approached by developers while 30% of similarly-situated non-farmland owners had been approached. While just 25% of farmland owners approached for development signed a lease, 38% of non-farmland owners signed a lease when approached, according to Walsh’s results.

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Many of the farmers who signed leases with solar developers indicated that the agreements would bolster their ability to stay in farming. While 45% of respondents said the leases would not impact their future agricultural operation, 37% of respondents said it improved their chances of staying in the business. Just 14% of respondents said the agreements made them less likely to stay in agriculture. 

“Farmland owners were approached with more frequency but were less likely to sign an agreement,” Walsh said. 

Potential impacts on wildlife

The panel also touched on how solar projects could affect wildlife, especially by fragmenting habitat and cutting off migration routes. Michale Glennon, a senior research scientist at Paul Smith’s College Adirondack Watershed Institute, noted that some people have theorized that the appearance of a solar installation from above could compel birds in search of water to dive toward the panels. 

“We don’t really know that much,” Glennon said of the wildlife impacts of solar projects, especially in Northeast ecosystems. 

Grassland habitats, for example, are a small but important part of the Adirondack landscape and make good candidates for solar development. 

“Those places are really important for wildlife as well,” Glennon said. 

Glennon outlined what she sees as best practices to minimize impacts to wildlife:

• Avoid tree clearing.
• Prioritize degraded and fallow lands.
• Consult local experts.
• Plan for wildlife movement and preserve connectivity.
• Buffer streams and wetlands. 

She also said it is important to institute ongoing monitoring of birds and other wildlife using cameras and acoustic sensors at solar installations to develop a stronger understanding of impacts.  

Glennon also underscored the importance of renewable energy and avoiding the global calamity of runaway climate change which, she said, would ultimately cause more harm to Adirondack ecosystems than the location of a specific solar project. 

“The broader impacts of climate are so enormous that we should go fast,” Glennon said.

Photo at top: The town of Franklin installed solar panels in Kate Mountain Park in 2019 to produce power for its facilities. Explorer file photo by Mike Lynch