New Mexico Solar Farm Design Allows Pronghorn Passage, Challenging Wildlife Avoidance Assumptions
A 1,100-acre, 200-megawatt solar farm in northwestern New Mexico, the San Juan Solar and Storage Project, is demonstrating an unexpected interaction with local pronghorn populations. Contrary to previous studies where solar farms with continuous fencing caused pronghorn to avoid the area, 75 GPS-collared pronghorn are actively navigating through the San Juan facility. The solar farm, built on the site of a former coal plant, features nine individually fenced arrays with open passages between them. These passages were created due to existing public roads, private land ownership, and natural arroyos, not specifically for wildlife. Researchers from Wildlands Network, supported by a $1.7 million Department of Energy grant, have been tracking the pronghorn since March 2024, collecting over a million GPS locations and five million trail camera photos. Initial findings indicate that pronghorn are utilizing these gaps, with 18 of 30 collared females approaching within 328 feet of the fencing and every passage reco...