www.windaction.org | facts, analysis, exposure of wind energy's real impacts http://www.windaction.org/ facts, analysis, exposure of wind energy's real impacts en-us Windaction hourly 1 http://backend.userland.com/rss Wildlife concerns voiced at wind park hearing http://www.windaction.org/articles/20838 Tue, 21 Apr 2009 12:54:56 GMT Concerns about the safety of birds and bats were voiced at a state hearing yesterday on a proposal to construct a wind-energy park in Coos County. ...A subcontractor for the developer conducted a study of the birds and bats in the project area, but Don Kent, a member of the site committee and the Natural Heritage Board, said it was inadequate. http://www.windaction.org/articles/20838 FWS letter responds to Lempster Wind (NH) preconstruction studies http://www.windaction.org/articles/14823 Thu, 31 Jan 2008 16:25:47 GMT http://www.windaction.org/articles/14823 Bird and Bat Studies Conducted at Proposed or Existing Windpower Facilities http://www.windaction.org/articles/8614 Thu, 01 Mar 2007 00:00:00 GMT This document includes studies in Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Virginia and West Virginia. http://www.windaction.org/articles/8614 Avian Risk Assessment - Various http://www.windaction.org/articles/4324 Mon, 07 Aug 2006 13:50:27 GMT Below are two Phase I Avian Risk Assessments reports, prepared by Paul Kerlinger, for Vermont's East Haven Wind Farm (July 2003) and New Hampshire's Lempster Mountain Wind Power Project (June 2005). Phase I assessments have proven inadequate in assessing mortality at several sites in the U.S. including Mountaineer in West Virginia and Meyersdale in Pennsylvania. The US Fish and Wildlife Interim Wind/Wildlife Guidelines calls for multi-year evaluation of avian and bat activity using remote sensing. http://www.windaction.org/articles/4324 Lempster Wind Project: USFWS Letter to Community Energy http://www.windaction.org/articles/5052 Fri, 28 Jul 2006 15:01:40 GMT Starting with our first interagency meeting on April 8, 2005, we have generally discussed three broad categories of activities that pose a potential concern for fish and wildlife resources. These include the potential for bird and bat collisions with turbines, habitat fragmentation effects on wildlife and impacts to waters/wetlands. At the April 8, 2005 interagency meeting, we recommended that CEI collect three (3) years of radar data on spring and fall bird/bat migrations to document the spatial and temporal use of the airspace by these flying vertebrates. Three years of radar data should be sufficient to gather information on the spatial and temporal distribution of birds in the airspace, including the year-to-year variability in migration patterns at this site, and represent our normal request for these data at wind projects. We have consistently requested that this data be collected at our meetings and field visits and continue to make this request for radar information. http://www.windaction.org/articles/5052 Wind towers vs. birds and bats – information is controversial http://www.windaction.org/articles/1209 Wed, 04 Jan 2006 15:16:35 GMT

Editor's Note This opinion piece was written in response to a letter received from Lisa Linowes that is available via the link below. ]]> My viewpoint was, and still is, that the huge towers (260 feet high), gigantic blades (add another 150 feet), blinking strobe lights, permanent removal of wind-hindering vegetation, and highly visible road and transmission infrastructures are totally inappropriate for wild, undeveloped, scenic and highly visible settings. And I said I thought that opponents should focus on those issues, as well as the small return in electricity for the massive public price paid, aesthetically and otherwise, and should perhaps stay away from the issue of bird mortality caused by the rapidly spinning blades. The jury is still out on that, I said, and conventional wisdom is that vastly more birds are killed by high-rise windows and free-running cats......Well, so much for conventional wisdom. Editor's Note This opinion piece was written in response to a letter received from Lisa Linowes that is available via the link below. http://www.windaction.org/articles/1209 Lisa Linowes' Letter to John Harrigan re. Bird Mortality and Wind Turbines http://www.windaction.org/articles/1210 Tue, 20 Dec 2005 20:27:03 GMT

Editor's Note: Mr. Harrigan's reponse to this letter is available via the link below. ]]> In your column, you state bird mortality is a subject that wind energy opponents should stand down from. However, there is good reason for us to continue to shed light on this problem. To our knowledge, no commercial scale wind facility in the United States has been subject to pre-construction avian risk assessments that included remote sensing (radar or acoustical). Editor's Note: Mr. Harrigan's reponse to this letter is available via the link below. http://www.windaction.org/articles/1210