West Mojave Least Conflict Matrix

This is a final summary result of an analysis conducted by The Nature Conservancy to implement the recommendations outlined by environmental NGOs in the white paper "Renewable Siting Criteria for California Desert Conservation Area" dated June 29, 2009. We identified data sources to represent areas that are high conflict based on that white paper as well as land use conditions that might enable least conflict siting for solar development. This grid is a combination of the land use disturbance categories and the spatial scale of conflict factors to use as the draft "Matrix" of areas based on the relative conflict. See report for full sources. For complete methods and inputs, see the associated report, entitled: Solar Energy Development in the Western Mojave Desert: Identifying Areas of Least Environmental Conflict for Siting and a Framework for Compensatory Mitigation of Impacts.