New Mexico Solar Farm Design Accommodates Pronghorn Movement, Contrasting Wyoming Study
A 1,100-acre, 200-megawatt solar farm in northwestern New Mexico, the San Juan Solar and Storage Project, has shown unexpected results regarding wildlife interaction. Unlike a previous study in Wyoming where a single-fenced solar farm displaced pronghorn, 75 GPS-collared female pronghorn in New Mexico are navigating through the new facility. The San Juan project, built on the site of a retired coal plant, is divided into nine individually fenced arrays with open passages between them due to existing public roads, private land ownership, and natural arroyos. 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 millions of trail camera photos. The data indicates that pronghorn are using these passages, with 18 out of 30 collared females approaching within 328 feet of the fencing, suggesting no significant avoidance threshold. 
