The problem, the coalition said Monday, is that the plan does not protect infringement on Old Spanish Trail rights of way. The agency failed to incorporate its trail management policies when developing the big plan, according to the group that includes Western Watersheds Project, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, Basin & Range Watch and others.
All the nonprofits “fully support the country’s transition to solar, but we all agree that we have to do it right,” said Chandra Rosenthal, a Colorado attorney for PEER, in an email interview. “This protest is on a very narrow issue — the Old Spanish Trail is a national park unit that deserves full protection. BLM and the National Park Service have had 19 years to agree and prepare the Management Plan but haven’t been able to work out their disagreements.”
Other major trails have gone through the strict process of adhering to the National Environmental Protection Act and Congressional review, Rosenthal said. “Most trails are managed solely by NPS and maybe this one should be too,” she said.