TWIN FALLS, Idaho — The U.S. Bureau of Land Management so far has counted about 8,000 comments on the Lava Ridge wind project, which would be one of the country’s largest.

BLM took public comments on its Draft Environmental Impact Statement from mid-January through April 20.

BLM appreciates the strong public participation, which is “incredibly valuable to this process in helping us take a hard look at the potential impacts from this proposed project,” said Heather Tiel-Nelson, public affairs specialist at the agency’s Twin Falls District.

All comments will be read, and substantive comments will be used to further refine the analysis that will be released in the Final Environmental Impact Statement, she said. The final EIS and Record of Decision is expected in late fall or early winter.

Magic Valley Energy, a unit of New York-based LS Power, proposed the wind farm at Lava Ridge, about 25 miles northeast of Twin Falls.

The proposal, which has sparked widespread opposition, would feature up to 400 turbines on 84,000 acres of federal, state and private land in Jerome, Lincoln and Minidoka counties.

BLM has said it prefers either of two smaller alternatives.

Magic Valley Energy officials have said that the public process has been effective, and that BLM’s preferred alternatives address stakeholder concerns while outlining its economic and clean-energy benefits.

Concerns have centered on the potential impacts on road and other infrastructure, grazing, the Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer, wildlife and cultural resources, the Minidoka National Historic Site — a former World War II internment camp — and the supply of workers.

Another option is to not build the project, which the state Legislature supported this year by passing House Concurrent Resolution 4.