WIND WORKS TO PROTECT BIRDS AS IT GROWS

The danger from wind energy to golden eagle, hawk and bat populations is a very serious matter and anybody who has spent any time at wind industry gatherings knows developers are determined to build New Energy for the common good without doing harm to any aspect of our precious ecosystem.

Developers carefully evaluate the sites before building installations. The evaluations include wildlife studies. The evaluations are always submitted to state, county, regional and federal authorities. The projects do not go forward without regulatory approval. Regulators commonly request and obtain changes in installations for the protection of wildlife and habitat. After installation, developers do further studies.

None of this prevents unexpected turns of events. One of the first California wind farms had a horrible impact on golden eagles and hawks. Corrections were made and the negative impact was dramatically alleviated. Corrections are still being made. At the next big California installation that was built, there were no problems and there have been almost NO bird deaths at that site for decades.

At a West Virginia wind installation, despite the developer's best efforts at site selection, bat deaths were discovered. The "Bats and Wind Energy Cooperative" was soon convened to learn how to avoid the problem at future sites. A bat expert so respected in the field his colleagues called him “Mr. Bat” was called in. After studying the situation, he concluded there was no way anybody could have predicted the problem. A sonic deterrent is presently being tested. And researchers are studying other preventive measures.

The National Audubon Society is working closely with the American Wind Energy Association to do everything possible to pick good sites for wind developments and prevent harm. A recent authoritative National Academies of Science study approved of the wind energy industry’s efforts to date and recommended areas where more studies need to be done.

The wind energy industry is working with federal agencies and environmental groups like Sierra Club and Environmental Defense to grow energy without disrupting nature. They have formed The American Wind Wildlife Alliance to perfect the selection of sites and the protection of ecosystems.

Concerns remain. That is very very good. Vigilance in defense of the natural world is no vice. (NewEnergyNews said that.)

As wind turbines multiply, so do bird concerns; Pacific Northwest is example of energy boom – and worried biologists
October 30, 2007 (AP via MSNBC)

WHO
Wind energy developers (Darin Huseby, regional director, enXco Inc.;), the wildlife living where the wild winds blow and the protectors of the wildlife (David Anderson, biologist, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife; Keith Kohl, biologist, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife; Michael Denny, Blue Mountain Audubon Society; )

New and better studies are being done. But so far it looks like the harm is incidental while the benefit of wind energy is considerable. (click to enlarge)

WHAT
As the wind energy industry rapidly expands into wilder regions, it is expanding efforts to minimize harm to bird and bat life and habitat.

WHEN
The wind energy industry’s growth in 2006 and 2007 has been remarkable but in 2008 development will confront more regions where there are new complications.

Happy together.

WHERE
- In the shrub steppes and grasslands on the east side of the magnificent Columbia River Gorge the potential for habitat disruption and avian endangerment is being studied before development goes forward.
- In cultivated areas near Wasco, Oregon, rapid farmlands development has revealed no overt damage to life or habitat but more studies are needed.

WHY
- A thriving rodent population is a smorgasbord for proud raptors like golden eagles and ferruginous hawks.
- It is not just deaths from the big turbine blades. Building the towers permanently disrupts habitat
- Wind turbines kill an average of 2.3 birds/year in the US.
- In the Pac NW, the rate is 1.9 birds/turbine/year.
- These rates are not to be ignored but greater numbers of traffic fatalities don’t stop people from building freeways. On the other hand, these birds may be endangered species. Not the freeway drivers, the eagles and hawks.
- Studies suggest most eagles and hawks would learn to avoid the turbine blades as they sail high above the turbines hunting. But they may get hit occasionally as they dive on gopher and ground squirrel prey.

This is a brand new undertaking by wind energy advocates, environmentalists and regulatory agencies to develop a rigorous and dependable set of guidelines for siting wind installations. Demanding environmentalists are unhesitating in their approval. (click to enlarge)

QUOTES
- Anderson: "We have concerns we're losing that habitat…"
- Kohl: "They're going up so fast, we're worried about the cumulative effects…"
- Denny: "We'll have certain species in sharp local decline…If you lose breeding populations like the ferruginous hawk, you're not going to see them recover."
- Huseby: "We pride ourselves on building projects that adhere to the requirements…We want to be a net benefit to the environment."