The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service just completed a 97-page "biological opinion" that the 130-wind-turbine project off Cape Cod will not harm the roseate terns. In addition, Cape Wind is going to donate $780,000 for the restoration of Bird Island.

Let's look at Bird Island off the coast of Marion in the center of Buzzards Bay, and what towns around the bay have plans for commercial wind turbines. A review of the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative wind siting studies (http://www.mtpc.org/) will show the following towns around the bay have plans for commercial wind turbines.

Looking from Bird Island to the east, the town of Falmouth has one or two commercial wind turbines; to the north in the next town over, Bourne has Massachusetts Maritime Academy with one already installed and another planned; to the west the towns of Fairhaven and Dartmouth have one or two planned in each town and a small wind farm off the coast of Dartmouth; and finally, to the south of Bird Island, Rhode Island is proposing a wind farm near Block Island. In several years, Bird Island, the largest nesting area of roseate terns in North America, will be surrounded by commercial wind turbines.

We need to take a realistic view of the opinion and how, with the additional information provided here, it does or does not provide greater safety of the endangered species.