NEWS RELEASE
Contact: Don Amador
Email: damador@cwo.com
Date: September 1, 2025
OHV AND CONSERVATION GROUPS VOICE STRONG CONCERNS ABOUT SOLAR PROJECT
SACRAMENTO, CA – On August 28, representatives from OHV and conservation organizations gathered
at the Wilton Community Center to voice strong concerns regarding the siting of a 2,704 acre solar
project directly adjacent to the California State Parks Prairie City Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Area (SVRA)
near Folsom, CA. The public meeting was hosted by D.E. Shaw Renewable Investments (DESRI), an
energy development firm.
DESRI highlighted several proposed mitigation measures developed in response to concerns raised
during the public comment period that ended on May 5 for the Coyote Creek Agrivoltaic Ranch Project
Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) to address significant and unmitigatible impacts to public
access, scenic vistas, wildlife corridors, destruction of oak woodlands, well water supply, and park
operations.
With new energy projects being proposed adjacent to other State Park units such as Ocotillo Wells and
Heber Dunes SVRAs, a question was raised about an apparent policy change by State Parks to shift away
from its historic strategy of protecting SVRAs and other parks units with open-space buffers vs. to
accepting energy facilities or solar farms becoming the Department of Parks and Recreation’s new
industrial facility buffer strategy.
An environmental group representative with decades of CEQA experience reviewing solar and other
industrial projects said this is the 1st solar project the conservation community at large has opposed in
the state because it is in the top 1 or 2 of the worst projects they have ever seen.
Don Amador, former Chair of the CA State Parks Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation (OHMVR)
Commission, states, “I think Sacramento County Planning made a huge mistake by failing to notify the
OHMVR Commission about this solar project sited next to Prairie City SVRA per Public Resources Code
Section 5090.24 that requires the commission to (a) Be fully informed regarding all governmental
activities affecting the program.”
“In addition, the project proponents committed a major planning error by not reaching out to the OHV
community and competition organizations in 2021 pre-scoping efforts and during the 30-day public
scoping comment period that started on January 19, 2022. That omission of outreach continued until
late April of this year when OHV organizations got an alert by a 3 rd party about this project just a few
days before the DEIR May 5 public comment deadline,” Amador continues.
The next step in this process is for OHV groups, local businesses, conservation, and competition
organizations to attend in-person or virtually the September 4, 2025 OHMVR Commission meeting in
Redding, CA where this issue is on the agenda as an ACTION ITEM.
“It is important for the OHMVR Commissioners to hear from the greater OHV stakeholder community
about their concerns regarding the project’s short and long-term impacts to public access, park
operations, and even questions about the SVRA’s future,” Amador concludes.
If this project is withdrawn by the county, it will be because they failed to do the initial pre-scoping of
key stakeholder groups who would have most likely supported the project at a more suitable site away
from this deeply treasured State Park unit with its high quality off-road trail and track network, safety
training programs, nationally recognized powersports competition events, and scenic views of nearby
oak forests and native grasslands.
DEIR COMMENTS FROM OHV, CONSERVATION, AND AGENCIES
https://planning.saccounty.gov/Documents/Coyote%20Creek%20Agrivoltaic%20Ranch/DEIR/Updated%
20All%20Comments%20Received%20on%20the%20Draft%20EIR.pdf
SEPTEMBER 4, 2025 OHMVR COMMISSION MEETING
https://ohv.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=27160
Don Amador
