Special Episode: The Prairie City Solar Project Controversy

The Coyote Creek/Prairie City Solar Project Controversy 

Guests: - Rose Winn, Natural Resources Consultant, Cal Four Wheel Drive Association - Don Amador, President of Quiet Warrior Racing and Consulting, Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame Inductee 

Episode Summary: In this special edition of Conversations with Big Rich, host Big Rich Klein dives into a critical issue affecting the off-road community in Northern California. The episode focuses on the contentious solar project proposed by Desri Energy at Prairie City State Vehicle Recreational Area (SVRA) in Rancho Cordova. This project has sparked significant concern among off-road enthusiasts, conservationists, and the local community due to its potential environmental impact and procedural oversights. 

Project Overview: The solar project, initiated by Desri Energy, is set to affect Prairie City SVRA, a beloved off-road park, due to its scale and proximity. – 

Stakeholder Concerns: Both Rose Winn and Don Amador express alarm over the lack of communication with key stakeholders and the absence of environmental considerations in the project's planning. 

Environmental Impact: Key issues include dust and water usage, potential encroachment on park land, and the impact on the local ecosystem. 

Call to Action: Listeners are urged to participate in the OHV Commission meeting on Thursday, Sept 4, 2025 at 9 a.m. in Redding to ensure their voices are heard and to help protect the future of Prairie City SVRA and other similar sites. 

Transcript

00:00:05.100] - 

Welcome to Conversations with Big Rich. This is an interview-style podcast. Those interviewed are all involved in the off-road industry. Being involved, like all of my guests are, is a lifestyle, not just a job. I talk to past, present, and future legends, as well as business owners, employees, media, and land use warriors, men and women who have found their way into this exciting and addictive lifestyle we call off-road. We discuss their personal history, struggles, successes, and reboots. We dive into what drives them to stay active and off-road. We all hope to shed some light on how to find a path into this world that we live and love and call off-road.

[00:00:46.460] - 

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[00:01:13.080] - Big Rich Klein

Today's podcast is a special Mission podcast, time sensitive and important to Norcal four wheel drive enthusiasts and any that use the California OHV areas. Guests today are Rose Winn, who is the Cal Four Wheel Drive Association Natural Resource Consultant, as well as Don Amador, 2016 Inductee into the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame as a land use advocate. He's also the President of the Quiet Warrior Racing and Consulting, and he has served on the California Off-Highway Vehicle Recreation Commission from 1994 to 2000. Prairie City is under attack. Prairie City is located in Rancho Cordova and is a State Vehicle Recreational Area (SVRA). They're under attack by a massive solar project run by Desri Energy. And that will be what our conversation is about today. Hello, Don Amador and Rose Winn. It's so good to have you on this podcast. This is a special edition, and it's to get the news out about what's happening around and at Prairie City here in Rancho Cordova in Northern California, and why it's important to all of our four-wheel drive enthusiasts and State Park Recreational Area Attendees. Well, good morning.

[00:02:41.700] - Don Amador

Good morning. Hey, good morning, Rich.

[00:02:43.760] - Big Rich Klein

Okay, so- Hey, hey. Yes.

[00:02:45.780] - Don Amador

Yeah. Yeah. Thanks for covering this issue. I also wanted to thank you by starting off for attending that public meeting at Wilton last week. It's just so important that this message get out, and You're a good vehicle for that.

[00:03:01.900] - Big Rich Klein

Well, I appreciate that. Why I picked you two guys, two individuals? Let me say that, Rose, you're obviously not a guy, but I just use that to include everybody nowadays. Sure. I know that's not politically correct, but you both know me a little bit to know that I'm not real politically correct most of the time. I really want to say thank you for you guys being here. But also, the reason I picked you guys is Don is your history with the OHMVR and also with all the state parks and everything. And then Rose, you are super sharp when it comes to this stuff. And I thought you just sliced and diced the other day at the meeting in Wilton. And I love sitting behind you. I wanted to pat you on the back the whole time. So let's get started. Don, you want to give us a little bit of a background on OHMVR Commission.

[00:04:10.900] - Don Amador

Sure. So the OHV Commission is part of the California OHV program that was founded in the early 1970s to promote sustainable and managed OHV recreation in the State of California. And the commission has certain oversight authority right now. And the problem is with this particular solar project is that there's a public resources code that requires government agencies that are making these certain project proposals to consult and contact the California OHV Commission. And in this particular instance, they didn't This project has actually been going on for the last 5-7 years. And the fact that they not only did not contact the OHV Commission as they're supposed to by the Public Resources Code, but just as egregious is the fact that they did not do any outreach to the OHV community, which is the major stakeholder group at Prairie City SVRA. Going through, we were notified, as you heard at the meeting in Wilton, that the OHV community, we found out about this at the 11th hour, just a few days before the public comment period ended on May 5 for the draft environmental document and had very little time to construct substantive comments. And this is such a complex issue.

[00:05:59.140] - Don Amador

I've told the proponents. But I'm still trying to wrap my head around this thing because it is a very complex issue. At that meeting, it was important that the community did speak up, and we had a strong showing from not just motorized, but also the conservation community. My main takeaways from that was that it's clear by the presentation that neither the county or the or Desri, the project managers, have given really any consideration to the OHV community and state parks. Also, the continued lack of outreach to us, and that no county officials were at that meeting. I'm concerned not only for Prairie City, but for similar solar projects that are being proposed used next to other SVRs like Ocotilla  Wells and Dumont Dunes. I think it's important that we get the word out to have the OHV community engage with the California OHV Commission on Thursday, this coming Thursday in Redding, either in person or online, so they can share their concerns about what appears to be a trend of projects being cited directly adjacent to California State Park units that are managed for OHV recreation. And in fact, maybe even other state park units that are not motorized.

[00:07:41.520] - Don Amador

So this is a big issue, and I'm glad we're talking about it today.

[00:07:45.860] - Big Rich Klein

You mentioned there that the county and SMUD is part of that, and Desri didn't contact in anybody from the commission or the stakeholders. I know that they appeared to talk to state parks before then, but it's interesting that that didn't get pushed back onto the commission. And then the other thing is, you know what? Snakes don't fly, and they slither in the grass. And that's the impression I'm getting on this whole project. And we'll talk more about that. But, Rose, do you want to touch on Cal Fourwheel and when you found out about this?

[00:08:42.140] - Rose Winn

Yeah, absolutely. And my name is Rose Winn, and I'm the Natural Resources Consultant for California Fourwheel Drive Association. As with Don, I first learned of this project three days before the public comment period was over. In the first week of May, the comment period ended on May fourth. And immediately started scrambling to learn about it because it had been so successfully suppressed from the public purview of the OHV community, which was quite shocking after starting to dive into it, learning about the scale of the project as well as the length of planning that had already been invested. We learned about it during the draft Environmental Impact Report phase, whereas we had never even learned about it during pre-scoping or scoping that had happened years prior. And so there was an intentional omission of opportunity for the OHV community to participate. I do know that State Parks was involved at some point prior. I'm not sure exactly when they became more closely involved in looking at this project, but there was a disconnect between State Parks involvement and then notification to the OHMVR commission. After speaking with members of the OHMVR Commission, they actually learned about it from us because I know for myself, I immediately reached out to them to say, Hey, what do you know about this?

[00:10:01.480] - Rose Winn

What are your thoughts on it? And they said, We have no thoughts on it. What is it? Tell me about it. And so that was another layer of not only confusion, but also just some misaction in how this whole project has unfolded over time. And so there's many complexities to it. There's, of course, some very significant direct, immediate, and unavoidable impacts to Prairie City, the SVRA, to the rider experience, and what recreational uses will look like moving forward if this project does move forward to implementation. There's also a significant layer of impacts to environmental concerns and conservation of this area, the foothills, and what development as a whole looks like in larger planning is there will be some more urbanization and growth in the community around Prairie City and the Rancho Cordova area, but the planning of that growth is leaving a lot of stakeholders out in the dark. This piece really wraps around all those issues. Of course, the OHV impacts are right at the center of it and something that need to be addressed. The meeting in Wilton on Thursday was apparently intended to address those concerns, but it was more of a song and dance, I think, with hopes of placating our concerns.

[00:11:24.240] - Rose Winn

I don't believe they were successful in any of that. I also urge everybody to attend the meeting on September fourth with the OHVMR Commission. If you can come in person in Redding, that would be fantastic. If you can attend virtually and call in, then that's also an option. But they need to hear from the OHV community, and this is the prime opportunity for us to do so.

[00:11:48.060] - Big Rich Klein

Exactly. Hey, Rick. Yes.

[00:11:49.940] - Don Amador

We're just on it. I think it's important to note, too, that the chair of the OHV Commission, Roger Salazar, he attended that Wilton meeting. And I think he was just as stunned and set back as you and some of us in the room were. And it was important for him also to hear from Sean Wirth, who's a Sierra Club representative that does a lot of project reviews for that organization for the last 20, 30 years. And for him to get up and say for the record that, environmental groups generally support solar projects. In fact, they've never opposed one in California to date. But the reason they're opposing this particular project, because they feel, just like we do, that it's the wrong site, selecting a piece of land that abuts a state park unit that will have a serious view shed impact for the users there, and that this land also is an important oak woodland grassland that acts as a wildlife The fact that he said this is the top one or two worst projects that he has ever worked on. I think that was a stunning statement he made.

[00:13:14.800] - Big Rich Klein

Yeah, I was absolutely amazed when he said that. I was amazed that they were there, except for the fact, with the first meeting that we had that day at Prairie City, I figured the walk-through and drive-through there, I figured they were there for the opposite reason.

[00:13:38.360] - Rose Winn

Well, interestingly there, it was actually our alliance is now in the conservationist community that alerted us to this project. They had reached out and asked if we had interest in it, and they've been quite active in extending an open arm and wanting to be involved. So one of the reasons we did that tour at Prairie City and then met at Cal Four wheels headquarters prior to the public meeting in Wilton was to bring some cohesion between all of our groups, compare notes, discuss everything that they've been involved with this from the beginning, back in the early 2020s, and have tracked it along through all these years. And so there's much more depth that they've had the opportunity to dive into in regard to the sighting impacts to the oak woodlands and species of concern, as well as in some degree, impacts on neighboring communities, including the OHV Park. And so to gain some more insight there, plus all the research that we've been able to really dive into since May, looking at the OHV Park specifically, was really useful as far as going into that meeting and being able to have a more robust understanding of everything that's implicated with this project.

[00:15:00.000] - Don Amador

Ken Rich. Yes. I think, too, that one of the problems that's been highlighted is the fact that the county of proponents made what I think is a huge strategic mistake by not meeting during pre scoping period, back in 2019, 2020, when they were working on this project, by not meeting with key stakeholder groups. I've been involved with a lot of project site location efforts when I was on the commission in the 1990s and then with forest health projects, et cetera. And one of the first things that a smart project manager does is meet with key stakeholders before they even spend any money on creating the plan to see what the issues are, what the problems are, and see if there's resolutions. The fact that they did not meet as best as I can tell with state park leadership, and certainly Certainly not with the OHV Commission or OHV stakeholders. When this was being planned, I was a legislative action officer for AMA district 36. We have major events at that facility, including the Hangtown Motorcross Classic. Our clubs have a lot of events there throughout the year. The fact they didn't reach out to us, I think was just a fatal error on their part.

[00:16:28.800] - Don Amador

I think if this project does get killed, that's going to be one of the main reasons for that.

[00:16:37.240] - Big Rich Klein

I really hope it does. I hate to say this, but I have my doubts because of the planning mission and where they're at along here. And then knowing that Desri is just a private equity company or firm, which is, as we all know, they're all about the money. They can say that they're environmentally conscious. That's obviously not true in this situation, especially since all of the environmental groups are against them. Then you have just the sneakiness that has gone on. It's just ridiculous. I guess they're up against being able to get tax credits or financial incentives from the federal government because of the big, beautiful bill. I believe they're just trying to... All of a sudden, they've kicked this thing into high gear and want to get this so they can break ground before that.

[00:17:42.940] - Rose Winn

Yeah, they have to break ground before July of 2026 in order to be eligible for those tax credits.

[00:17:48.120] - Big Rich Klein

July of 2026. Okay. Let's talk about the impacts that it has on Prairie City. Rose, do you want to take that?

[00:18:02.440] - Rose Winn

Sure. Yeah, there's many. Some of the more obvious ones are dust and water. We've talked about that at some length since we were able to figure out what was going on with this project in May. But the first thing that It came very alarming to me when reading through the draft environment impact report was that the DEIR was silent on the topics of dust and water. They had not conducted any prevailing wind studies to see where dust would be deposited from the OHV power park to the field of solar panels. There had been no discussion of potential mitigations or ways that a solar facility could be compatible in placement next to an OHV park. And in is one of the most obvious concerns because as we've seen at Oceano Dunes and many other riding areas that come up close to any urbanized or developed area, dust is one of the first out cries of contention with the community surrounding it. Solar developments, particularly, need to be as much as possible dust-free because as dust is deposited on the solar panels themselves, it minimizes their efficiency and reduces their output. And so that's where it really didn't make sense to me that a solar developer would not account for dust in that, of course, they're going to be looking for the highest level of efficiency in production continually.

[00:19:29.200] - Rose Winn

One of the things that we were told at the Wilton meeting last week was that there's some new solar panels that have been developed that can operate at high efficiency, even with a large amount of dust deposit on them. They require less cleaning, and that this is the wave of the future for solar panels, which all sounds well and good. But some details that they left out is that after doing some additional investigation into those claims, those solar panels are certainly in development, but they're only being beta-tested. None of those types of solar panels have actually been implemented in a utility-scale solar project like this one at Coyote Creek. They're making some claims based on assumptions, and perhaps those assumptions will come true in years to come. But at this time, as they're actually looking at constructing, they're doing that with some hopes more than facts. So it becomes a moot point when we're discussing mediations with a neighboring facility like Prairie City. The other issue is water, or one of the other big issues is water, because Prairie City does operate off of a well, and the solar facility will also operate off the well water, which, of course, will be drawn from the same water table.

[00:20:43.550] - Rose Winn

And the water table at Prairie City has actually been in decline since the 1980s, and they already struggle with water scarcity. And quite a bit of water is actually needed to maintain operations and just run the facility at Prairie City itself. So to have competing water usage is of significant impact and something also the DEI was completely silent on. And so since we made these concerns in the public comment period, Desri, the developer, has come out and said, they'll just truck in the water rather than utilize water from the local source. But that really isn't a resolution in that if you're going to go with an alternative source for the water, you then have to analyze the environmental impacts on the source that you're going to draw from. You also have to analyze the impacts of additional output of carbon emissions for the trucking that's going to be taking place because that's a very large quantity of water on an ongoing basis that would have to be transported to the solar facility. That, again, sounds like perhaps a potentially great solution, but on the practical side of it, as well as the legal and administrative side, just the due process and how you're going about the environmental analysis, it It is insufficient and it doesn't address what is required legally and administratively.

[00:22:05.560] - Rose Winn

Those are two big concerns. Other concerns, and I'm sure Don would like to add some in here, but we have some concerns about encroachment onto the SVRA itself. The Gentile Line would be constructed along a 1. 3-mile length that borders Prairie City SVRA, and there would be some encroachment from the Gentile Line itself, as well as from the construction of that facility, the construction of the switchyard and the substation, and then some ongoing utilization of passageway through the SVRA during construction and then ongoing for maintenance. These are elements that were highlighted in the DEAR, but not really disclosed or discussed at length. It does seem that there's been some smoke and mirrors in how the planning groups have gone about sharing information about impacts, and then, of course, with the exclusion of stakeholders that has not given us the opportunity to address them sufficiently and perhaps come to some agreement or compromise if there had been that opportunity earlier on. Don, I know there's some other impacts that you had raised at the meeting. Why don't you jump in?

[00:23:20.540] - Don Amador

Sure. So just a couple. So short term, during construction, they did admit there was going to have to be some closures of parts of the park. Didn't give a lot of information on that. Said they would avoid the weekends where hang town Mx. And I think there's the Ultra4 race or races that occur and some others that major events, so try not to have a construction impacting the park. But there was a lack of detail on what those closures during a general public use will be. And that's short term, long term, the view shed impacts. That was one of the things that immediately raised a red flag for me in the draft Environmental Impact Report, was their admission that there were going to be significant and long term and unmitigatable view shed impacts to the park. I've had this talk with them when I went out in person a month ago and toured the project site with them. I said that people come out here I came to this park when I lived in the Bay Area because I wanted to get away from the wind farms in East Contra Costa County. There's people that come here from San Francisco and other places where they want to get away from industrial sites.

[00:24:45.060] - Don Amador

They came to the park to enjoy the views of the Sierra and the Oak Woodlands to the south of us and east. Now you're taking away that high-quality experience that all of us enjoy. Then long term, the precedent this sets for other energy projects that are being proposed adjacent or in other SVRAs, I think, puts our program in jeopardy. And that's why it's so important for the OHV Commission to weigh in. And I think this issue is an action item next Thursday. And it's my hope that at least they will weigh in with a letter to Sacramento County expressing their concerns and requesting an extension or re-issuance of the planning documents that incorporate our concerns that Rose and I and others made back in May. And let the public comment it again, because right now that Planning Commission is set for the first part of October. And really, there is no way for the public to comment on all these new proposals that they're making, mitigation measures that may or may not be worth the paper they're written on before it goes to the Sacramento County for approval. There's no way for us to engage in a meaningful way.

[00:26:11.970] - Don Amador

So important that we support the OHV Commission at that Thursday meeting and request that they take action, at least to stick up for due process and our ability to be engaged in this project.

[00:26:27.680] - Rose Winn

Yeah, and I think that's the critical point there is that we're really in a rushed mode towards the final approval. The Planning Commission is looking at a date in October, either early or mid-October, to potentially approve this project to move forward towards implementation. And so we have the OHMVR Commission meeting on Thursday, September fourth, and then potentially one month prior to the Planning Commission meeting. In that month, though, their final Environmental Impact Report would be released, and there is no formal public comment period for that. We will have an opportunity to review it, but anything that we may comment on is almost a non-factor because they won't be revising at that point once they've issued the final Environmental Impact Report. And procedurally, When you're looking at CQA, when you're looking at public resource code and other statutes that guide these processes, there have already been such significant revisions proposed to the draft environmental report that was disclosed in that Wilton meeting, that it warrants a completely revised draft environmental impact report. To take all that information, just say, these are the little tweaks. The time between a draft and the final report should be a time that you're fine-tuning, doing some little edits, making some minor modifications.

[00:27:50.200] - Rose Winn

But these are massive, major modifications, a whole shift in strategy. They've rewritten components of what certain elements that implementation will look like. A final impact report at this point is completely inappropriate and, quite frankly, illegal. They really should be rereleasing the draft one for everybody to comment on an entirely new public comment period.

[00:28:14.780] - Big Rich Klein

That planning commission also, if we do have public comment at that, it's going to be limited to two or three minutes per person. And then they're going to limit how much time, how many people can do it anyway. So nobody's going to have a to get up there and even ask the questions and pick apart that plan. And that's opening the door for, I hate to say it, but, court.

[00:28:46.220] - Don Amador

Well, Rich, you're right. It's all political theater by the time it reaches the commission. And I think that that's why it's important for, I think, the OHV Commission to reach out directly to the county board to supervisors because they're the ones that make the ultimate decision, and they're the ones that can tap the brakes on this process. Again, it's so critical for folks to attend that OHV Commission meeting on Thursday and support that action item.

[00:29:17.860] - Big Rich Klein

And on the planned revisions, as you spoke to Rose, one of the things that I noticed is that when questions were asked at that meeting in Wilton, They've never really answered anything. Everything that they said was hyperbole. I hope I'm using that word correctly, but it was just what they thought we wanted to hear, and not a direct answer. I mean, like when we talked about the trees, I mean, at first, there was going to be, what was it, 4,800 trees cut down? 4,000 trees?

[00:30:00.000] - Rose Winn

4,700 trees.

[00:30:01.060] - Big Rich Klein

Yeah. 4,700 oaks, and most of those being blue oaks. And they said, Oh, well, there's a one-to-one replacement. And we've also cut back by 25 % or whatever. So they're down to a lesser number. But what people have to remember is those oaks that they're going to replace at one to one are seedlings that they're picking up the seeds this fall. They're going to use a company, or not a company, a nonprofit, the Sacramento tree, whatever, and which there's a conflict there. But then they're going to be planting these seedlings that blue oaks only grow one inch per year on a good year. And they're taking down trees that are 200, 300, 400 years old and replacing them with a tree that will be at the best, 7 to 10 inches when the seven years of their maintenance of those trees is over. That's ridiculous.

[00:31:20.580] - Rose Winn

It really is. It again shows some short-sightedness and lack of real conscientiousness towards the impacts of this project and how it's being implemented. Those are some of the environmental impacts that I think as a OHV community, we definitely are as equally passionate about as the folks that we've been able to join with in the conservation community, because the view shed, like Don mentioned, will be altered for perpetuity. Not only are they cutting down thousands and thousands of oaks that lie between Prairie City and then the mountains in the distance where normally we look out and we see that beautiful landscape of the rolling foothills and the oaks and then going up into the higher foothills and the snowcap peaks, that will be changed forever. They'll cut down the oaks. They'll be blasting and leveling much of that land, even though they're able to use solar panels now that can be erected on a 15-degree slope. It's not like they have to have it completely flat 15 degrees is not very much of a slope. It's still removing the rolling foothills as we know them today. They'll be removing the equivalent of three stadiums worth of soil while doing this blasting and leveling process.

[00:32:31.340] - Rose Winn

That's a lot of land that they're going to be basically scraping and stripping flat. Anything that is replanted is going to take many, many years to recover, even the grasslands. But the oaks themselves take hundreds of years to grow back to the equivalent size of what we're enjoying today. So the loss of now 3,000 plus trees is significant. And again, that land functions as a corridor for many species to traverse between the lower foothills up into the higher mountain areas. And that's something that should be accounted for. For all the work that we've invested over the last few years as part of the OHV community to create a well balanced environmental atmosphere and setting at Prairie City itself. We've ensured protections for the vernal pools and for species of concern. We created the trail-only park instead of having open riding areas so that riding is happening only in designated areas to protect the land that we're enjoying as we're riding out there. We've gone to great lengths to implement our own conservation measures within Prairie City. And yet right next door, 2,700 acres of land adjacent to Prairie City is going to be blasted, leveled, clear-cut, essentially, covered with solar panels.

[00:33:50.460] - Rose Winn

And then it will remain that way forever. Even whenever that project is decommissioned and those panels are removed, the land will remain flattened and primarily tree lists.

[00:34:01.120] - Big Rich Klein

Right. While they during decommission, they will remove the panels and probably the up rights, there's still all the power lines and the station that will still be there.

[00:34:16.840] - Rose Winn

Yeah, the switch yard, the substation, and all the other infrastructure will remain.

[00:34:20.910] - Big Rich Klein

And that's the stuff that's on the OHV park?

[00:34:25.720] - Rose Winn

Yes.

[00:34:26.420] - Big Rich Klein

So it just I just don't understand their concept. Getting back to the cleaning of the panels, I think they said there was like 400,000 panels on this project?

[00:34:40.920] - Rose Winn

Yeah, about a half million. And they reduced that number slightly. When they reduced the number of trees, they compacted the project footprint, but it's a pretty insignificant compaction when you're looking at the scale of the whole thing. It's still a massive utility scale solar project with just about a half million panels in place.

[00:34:57.420] - Big Rich Klein

So I want people to think about that. A half million panels thereabouts, closer to the half million than away from it, and they need to be cleaned. They're saying they don't need to clean because, well, at Sloughhouse, we haven't had to clean them. Well, Sloughouse doesn't have an OHV park right next to it. And in the wind patterns from the use of the the enthusiasts out there in four-wheel drive or motorcycles or whatever. And they're not in the dust pattern. So of course, Sloughouse doesn't need to be cleaned. The amount of water that they would have to truck in is ridiculous. I mean, they're going to... I can't even imagine how many trucks it would take to go through and do a cleaning of 400,000, 500,000 panels three or four times a year. I mean, that's quite substantial.

[00:35:59.000] - Rose Winn

Yeah, that's a lot of water.

[00:36:00.720] - Big Rich Klein

It is. And even if they drew that from the ground there, that's got to impact the aquifer that the park is on. And we know that's declining, and it's full of... It's non-pottled potable, or at least the park says it's non-potable. So you can't drink it. It's contaminated, at least to a degree that it's non-potable. And they're going to be spreading that through the... I mean, and that cleaning those is going to be worse than keeping the roads watered when it comes to water usage. So I'm just incensed with the way that they've gone about this and how they're trying to make up dialog and thesis on how this is going to not affect us as OHV users or environmentalists, how it's not going to affect the environment.

[00:37:06.140] - Don Amador

Yeah. Nobody's buying that right now.

[00:37:09.960] - Big Rich Klein

Right.

[00:37:10.520] - Don Amador

So thanks to you and others, the message is getting out. So we have to stand up and say, No, we're not... I didn't hear anybody speak against solar projects per se. Environmental groups were clear that they have never opposed a solar project, but this is the wrong space for this project. At the end of the day, it's as simple as that. I'm glad people see it, and we need to speak up as a group and say, No, it's not happening on our watch.

[00:37:45.240] - Big Rich Klein

I agree. So let's talk about the OHV Commission meeting Thursday, September fourth in Redding. What time does that start? Do you have a clue on that?

[00:37:59.520] - Rose Winn

Yeah, it starts at, I believe 8: 30 or 8: 00 or 8: 30, and I can look that up right now while we're chatting.

[00:38:05.140] - Big Rich Klein

Am or PM?

[00:38:06.840] - Rose Winn

Am. Oh, AM. Yeah, this will be an AM meeting. Yeah. So on September fourth, it'll be an all-day meeting. Typically, they start at right around 8: 00 or 8: 30, and then run until about 4: 00, 4: 00-ish, depending on what's on the agenda. I do think that this component of the agenda will take up a good amount of time. It warrants it, though. If it's a longer meeting, it definitely warrants it.

[00:38:34.640] - Big Rich Klein

Absolutely. We need to get as many people as possible to that meeting. That means people from the Sacramento area need to leave early. Dawn, how far drive is it? Since you've done that quite a bit.

[00:38:51.540] - Don Amador

Since I live up here, this is in my neck of the woods, they have made this drive a lot in the last few months on this particular project. It's about a 2 hour and 45 minute drive. It's a pretty easy drive straight up Interstate 5. And showing up in person is so important in this particular issue because People will be watching online, including the project proponents, and they're going to see, hopefully, a large turnout of interested OHV enthusiasts are saying, No, this project is not happening. And supporting the commissions, exercising their oversight authority to step in and advocate for our program. But if they can't drive up, be sure and go online because all of those names and attendees will be captured and you'll have a chance to speak. And it's so important that you actually get on the line and say something when they call your name.

[00:39:56.740] - Big Rich Klein

And if people go to ohv. Parks. Ca. Gov, they can pick up the live feed there during the meeting? Yeah. Okay.

[00:40:13.500] - Don Amador

Yeah. Yeah. Go ahead, Rose.

[00:40:16.240] - Rose Winn

Oh, sure. Yeah, there's a meeting link within the OHMVR site. Like you said, ohv.Parks.Ca.Gov, then go to the Commission Meetings tab. This meeting is at 9: 00 AM on September fourth at the Sheraton Hotel in Redding. When you click on the link for the meeting agenda, that pops up with the Zoom link where you can just easily click in by phone or on your computer. When that agenda item comes up, then you can raise your hand to speak.

[00:40:46.380] - Big Rich Klein

Okay. Yeah, it's there on the... If everybody goes to Commission, goes to that website for the parks, and then goes to Commission Meetings, it says 2025 Commission Meeting Schedule. It's listed there September third and fourth. It says both. And then it gives you everything you need to know to get on there. Okay, cool. I wonder why it says both. And it says, okay, there's a virtual meeting registration for the Thursday date, and it says 9: 00 AM start time. And that's at the Sheridan-Redding Hotel at the Sundial Bridge. So if anybody's wondering where that's at, I'll be there. I'm going to do everything I can to be there. I know that means leaving at about five o'clock in the morning, but that's cool. I like to drive. But I think it's really important that we get as big a turnout in person there. And if you can't make it in person, please join the virtual meeting and stay on that and pick up the information, make comments, send in your questions and comments if that's possible. And let's show the commissions and Desri and hopefully the Sacramento County Planning Department that This is not good.

[00:42:17.780] - Big Rich Klein

This is not okay.

[00:42:20.800] - Don Amador

Hey, Rich. One other thing that I always like to try to have a little fun at these two. What's worked in the past that everybody appreciates is when an OHV family shows up, and I think kids, I know schools just started, but oftentimes your kids that recreate there can get some extra credit for taking part in civil activities, local government. And quite a few children have showed up and participated in something like this. So if you have kids that you want to bring them, we always love see them and love to hear from them because it's their future we're talking about here.

[00:43:04.340] - Big Rich Klein

Yeah, and I think everybody needs to realize that. I mean, it's not just... It's all off-road or enthusiast, two, four-wheel, three-wheel, anything motorized, even horseback. This is an attack on our public lands. And even If you do not use Prairie City or have never been there or any of the state parks anywhere, you need to be involved with this because it's going to impact our future generations. And they may use it. Your kids and your grandkids may use the park system. And if we let go of this one, it can impact all the rest.

[00:43:57.000] - Rose Winn

It will.

[00:44:00.300] - Big Rich Klein

Well, anything else you guys want to add before we close this off?

[00:44:05.880] - Rose Winn

One last thing I'll add, Rich. I think it's an important factor in looking at the grand scheme of all this is we really are looking at the future of our OHV Parks as a whole. I know Don already mentioned them in full agreement, having looked at the same data that this is a precedent-setting project. If they move forward to approve this solar development, we can absolutely anticipate to see other industrial-scale developments going in next door to other OHV riding areas. And that is not only bad for OHV riding, it violates the standard that's been set to have these open space buffers around the OHV parks. And that's a bigger discussion that needs to happen at the state level so that we are strategically deciding, is this a direction that California State is moving in, that we're removing those open space buffers and allowing these industrial scale developments to go in? If that's the case, then we may need to look at legislation and some other things to protect parks. But at this point, that's not the case. That's not the standard. And so this is precedent setting. With that, I do believe that Prairie City was in some way targeted for this development, because when you dig into the DEAR, another piece that you purged after some investigation was that they artificially shrunk the span of distance to look at alternative sites as part of the analysis for the DEAR.

[00:45:26.780] - Rose Winn

So where solar facilities normally look at a 5 to 15 mile range for alternative sites. They set the range at a mere few thousand feet around Prairie City as alternatives to analyze for this particular solar development. They shrunk it to such a degree that this was the only site analyzed with no alternatives at hand. And that flies in the face of what the standard is for solar developments, period, plus industrial planning and urban development at large. So this is definitely a highly watched situation. And if we can make our presence known, make our voices known at that meeting on Thursday, it really is critical on so many levels, not only for Prairie City, but for beyond.

[00:46:17.060] - Big Rich Klein

Don?

[00:46:17.510] - Don Amador

Yeah, I completely agree. Attend the meeting.

[00:46:21.420] - Big Rich Klein

Yes, attend the meeting. One of the other things that I got out of this last meeting, and Rose, you were the one that pointed it out was there's what I consider a big conflict of interest with one of the principals that was at that meeting, and an employee of Desri is also part of the 501(C)(3) that's doing the planting of the trees. I just found that very interesting that an employee could also be one of the officers in the 501(C)(3).

[00:47:04.580] - Rose Winn

Yeah, there's some fishy business going on financially. The individual you're speaking about is a consultant for Desri, Michelle Samira, and she is assisting in moving this project forward, and that's part of what her firm does. However, Desri is her client. Smud, the Sacramento Municipal Utility district, is also her client. Then she is the chair of the board of for the Sacramento Tree Foundation, which was awarded the contract for the replanting of trees for this project. When you dig into the financials, there's a lot of layers of overlap that look highly questionable at best.

[00:47:43.460] - Big Rich Klein

Yeah, that really got to me. And then knowing it's a private equity company, it was like, Okay, well, that makes sense. That's their MO. All right. Well, anyway, I want to say thank you guys so much for I'm joining me this morning on this Labor Day Monday. I'm going to get this podcast out as soon as possible so that we can get as many people involved in this. Luckily, it's the we have until Thursday or actually Wednesday. It gives us an extra day. I thought it was going to be tomorrow. So I'm really happy with the way this conversation went today.

[00:48:25.940] - Don Amador

Yeah, good stuff, Rich. Thank you for the opportunity, Rich. Yeah, thanks a lot. We'll see you up here in couple of days.

[00:48:30.860] - Big Rich Klein

All right. Sounds great. And you guys have a great rest of your Labor Day weekend.

[00:48:37.300] - Don Amador

Hey, thanks.

[00:48:38.460] - Rose Winn

Yeah, likewise. Thanks to you both.

[00:48:39.980] - Big Rich Klein

Okay, thank you. Bye-bye.

[00:48:42.000] - Rose Winn

Bye.

[00:48:43.520] - Big Rich Klein

Well, that's another episode of Conversations with Big Rich. I'd like to thank you all for listening. If you could do us a favor and leave us a review on any podcast service that you happen to be listening on, or send us an email or a text message or a Facebook message, and let me know any ideas that you have, or if there's anybody that you have that you think would be a great guest, please forward the contact information to me so that we can try to get them on. And always remember, live life to the fullest. Enjoying life is a must. Follow your dreams and live life with all the gusto you can. Thank you.