High Voltage Line Through Refuge Struck Down

A high voltage power line in Arizona that would have cut across sensitive wildlife habitat, including the KOFA National Wildlife Refuge, has been struck down, thanks in no small part to Sierra Club grassroots efforts. By a 5-0 vote, on May 30 the Arizona Corporation Commission rejected the Devers-Palo Verde No. 2 Transmission Line Project, proposed by Southern California Edison to run 230 miles from a generating station in Arizona to a substation in California. Sierra Club volunteers Jon Findley and Don Begalke, above, were among the Arizona Chapter leaders who spoke out against the power line at Corporation Commission meetings, gave expert testimony, and encouraged others to get involved. "This is an unprecedented decision and a huge win for everyone who cares about our wildlife refuges and other protected lands," says Arizona Sierra Club organizer Sandy Bahr, below, who wrote and distributed alerts, commented on the draft EIR/EIS, testified against the power line, wrote articles for the chapter newsletter, and worked closely with attorney Tim Hogan of the Arizona Center for the Law and Public Interest when the Sierra Club intervened in the line siting process.