The Old Spanish Trail is a historical trade route that was used by traders and settlers between Sante Fe, New Mexico, and Los Angeles, California, in the 1800s. It stretches 2,700 miles through deserts and mountains across Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah.
Congress designated the Old Spanish Trail in 2002. The U.S. Department of Interior was then supposed to submit a plan for the trail’s use and management – but never did.
That’s why the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) is leading a lawsuit against the federal agency.
Laura Dumais, the group’s staff counsel who filed suit on Dec. 9, said in the last decade alone, the trail has been damaged by dozens of projects.
“Things like oil and gas drilling or a solar panel installation,” Dumais explained. “You can imagine the purpose of this trail is to be able to walk along it and see what the landscape looked like back when it was used. And you're looking at a solar installation – kind of defeats the purpose of the trail, right?
“The point is not that there should be no solar installations,” she continued. “That they should be placed properly, and they shouldn't be impacting this national, historic treasure.”
The lawsuit cites two proposed solar projects in southern Nevada that could further degrade the trail: the Copper Rays Solar Project and the Golden Currant Solar Project. It also points out federal plans by the Bureau of Land Management to allow oil and gas drilling within 50 yards of the trail near Grand Junction, Colorado.
Joining PEER in the lawsuit are nonprofits Basin and Range Watch, the Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks, and longtime Old Spanish Trail advocates John Hiscock and Mark Franklin.
