Cathie Pauley, a Noxen resident and president of the Noxen Historical Community Association, said she is concerned about windmills defacing the mountains in Wyoming County. Wyoming County does not have much of an industrial base and community officials look to "our beautiful mountains" for tourism dollars, Pauley said. "Now, tell me who will want to see our mountains when they deface them with their roads, their wind mills and their clear-cutting."

Campaigners fighting plans for a windfarm at Hampole were today planning to tell Doncaster councillors it was not just nearby residents who opposed the scheme. HALT - Hampole Against Large Turbines - were addressing a specially-called technical meeting for members of the council's planning committee. The protesters said hundreds of visitors to nearby Brodsworth Hall had also signed letters protesting against the plans.

Town council should be cautious in approving locations for wind turbine projects until important natural features have been assessed, says Phil Roberts of the municipal environmental advisory committee. ..."You need to exercise caution," said Roberts. "There's a big learning curve in all of this." He said the county's eco-tourism market -- based largely on the bird and hawk migrations -- has to be kept in mind as wind turbines are sited.

They learned that Brookfield could not agree to arrange scheduled bus tours of the wind farm, as outlined in the township's 2006 strategic plan, as bus tours would entail getting consent from all owners of private properties the buses would travel over, Lacourciere said. However, Brookfield has shown interest in the building of a viewing platform/ interpretive site, "where you can see multiple windmills and possibly a view of the lake," she added. "Both Brookfield and Tourism Sault Ste. Marie are committed to investing time to start that project, but no money has yet been officially invested.

Greenhouse gas emissions generated by visitors air travel to New Zealand are far greater than commonly quoted, according to new research by University of Otago scientists. Physics researchers Dr Inga Smith and Dr Craig Rodger say their findings on the sheer size of the emissions and difficulties in offsetting them have far-reaching implications for both the tourism industry and efforts to achieve carbon neutrality. ...The researchers then went on to evaluate the feasibility of potential measures to offset the emissions to make the visitors travel carbon-neutral. We investigated several domestically-based offsetting scenarios involving either increased reliance on sustainable energy sources or reducing emissions. Unfortunately, none of the scenarios currently appear to be economically or technically feasible, Dr Smith says.

North Devon District Council wants a judicial review of plans for 22 turbines at Fullabrook Down. If the case goes ahead, the High Court could overturn the plans by Devon Wind Power. The plans were agreed by Energy Minister Malcolm Wicks, but the council says the impact on the area and local people outweigh any benefits. ...Council leader Mike Harrison said the authority had taken legal advice and it had a chance of winning its case. He said: "These are massive turbines and it will have a huge impact on the landscape. "It will affect people living nearby and the tourism industry."

Installing renewable energy is economically viable for tourist accommodation despite being considered too expensive and inefficient, according to the first Australian study of renewable energy in tourism accommodation. ...Dr Dalton found 50 percent of tourists were willing to pay at least five percent more to stay at a hotel with renewable energy but the other half, were not willing to pay any more. ...He found most types of renewable energy installations near a hotel were visually acceptable, with the exception of some wind turbines. ..."Wind seems to be a political hotcake that no one really seems willing to address and as a result doesn't seem to be promoted," he said.

A Pennsylvania company is asking the O'Malley administration for leases in two Western Maryland state forests so it can clear up to 400 mountaintop acres to build about 100 wind turbines. The U.S. Wind Force structures would be about 40 stories tall and visible from some of the region's most popular tourist areas, including Deep Creek Lake and the Savage River Reservoir. ...Dan Boone, a former state wildlife biologist who has been fighting wind farms in Western Maryland, said the Savage River and Potomac state forests contain rare old-growth trees and threatened species. "You are talking about taking one of the most spectacular scenic overlooks in Maryland and industrializing it," Boone said of a proposed site on Meadow Mountain in the Savage River forest. "It would be a real tragedy to take state lands and convert them into an industrial theme park for U.S. Wind Force."

Spencer Jones normally spends his day behind a desk in Garland. This weekend he's visiting Fredericksburg and the hill country. "One of the things I wanted to do was see this place," he said. He's referring to Enchanted Rock State Natural Area.The giant granite dome attracts a quarter of a million visitors a year, many hike the trail to the summit. ...Robert Weatherford is the president of Save Our Scenic Hill Country, a group of land owners working to keep wind farms out of the area. "You will literally be able to see them for miles. So we do think that it would destroy the scenic beauty of the Texas hill country," Weatherford said.

Thirteen giant wind turbines will soon be towering over valley homes and the Brecon Beacons National Park. Neath Port Talbot Council has approved controversial plans for a wind farm at Maesgwyn, between Banwen and Glynneath. ...There were 45 objections sent in by residents, and concerns were also raised at public meetings, as well as by ward councillors. The main source of grievance was the impact the turbines would have on the area's countryside, as well as on tourism.

THE region's top planners have warned wind farms could "significantly change the landscape" of Northumberland - as Berwick Council prepares to approve 10 125m turbines. Councils have been told by the North-East Assembly that the "gentle hills of Northumberland" simply cannot accommodate the number of turbines originally planned for the region. Plans to build 10 turbines at Moorsyde were yesterday scaled back to seven as developer Your Energy bowed to growing demands for planners to consider the overall impact of any application.

"Tourism is vitally important to this area. The impact these monstrous structures will have on our landscape could deter visitors. "If we do not object to these developments the whole of west Cumbria could soon be covered in turbines. "These will be visible from Broughton, Brigham and the surrounding area - they will not just effect the immediate area around Tallentire. "Please be prepared to act in the coming weeks to object to this proposal. The numbers of objectors do count."

Windfarm objectors yesterday told a planning inquiry into two proposed developments in a picturesque area of central Sutherland that the schemes would have a severe adverse impact on tourism. They claim the 46 turbines would destroy the unspoilt landscape, which they claim is the main tourist attraction in the economically fragile area.

The Bruce County Federation of Agriculture is calling for measures to protect the county's tourism industry, farming operations and municipalities from the rapidly developing wind energy industry. "Recent studies in other countries have shown that large wind generating areas and tourism are not compatible. It would be a shame to lose the gains we have made in tourism by not having planning in place to make sure our tourism industry stays vibrant," federation president Robert Emerson told Bruce County council's agriculture, tourism and planning committee on Thursday.

The federal Tourism Minister has joined the fight to stop the proposed Smeaton wind farm going ahead in central Victoria. Fran Bailey met the opponents in Hepburn Springs last night. She says wind farms need to be located away from tourism areas and other alternate energy forms like solar need to be considered instead. "I am very concerned about this and I do join with local residents. I do not think wind farms are appropriate in iconic tourist areas and I think that the Hepburn Springs area is one such area," she said.

Ann and Hedley Lamb have spent what seems to be a lifetime developing Barmoor Country Park near Lowick in Northumberland. Now with 100 caravan pitches, it is one of 22 such parks in Berwick borough alone, welcoming thousands of visitors virtually year-round. Bizarrely, strict planning guidelines insist that caravans should be screened from view but a clutch of proposed wind turbines barely a mile up the hill over Barmoor will be highly visible for dozens of miles around - with no such restrictions. "We've planted 8,000 trees to screen the caravans," says Ann. "It's for the planning rules, but it's also good for the wildlife and good for the local environment. I daren't even think about how this will affect our business. The landscape with its historic value is the essence of the place; you're going to kill the golden goose. We need a little bit of common sense.

Lord James Joicey runs the 16,000-acre Ford and Etal Estate where more than 30 small businesses operate, most of them heavily reliant on tourism for survival. He went some way down the line of agreeing to have turbines on his land, but withdrew when the full implications of their size and impact on local society became apparent. He was also concerned for the owners of local small businesses. He admits, however, that the income from hosting turbines - around £10,000 a year per unit - would have been welcome.

One couple's plans on hold because of wind farms. How many more local businesses are affected? Businesses heavily reliant on tourism are dismayed at proposals to erect giant wind turbines in north Northumberland. When Nick and Gail Maycock rolled up at the front door of a former pub in Northumberland, they realised straight away it was for them. They were looking for somewhere to run as a B&B and, with their worldly goods and three dogs packed into their Morris Minor, the sight of The Friendly Hound couldn't have been more appropriate. Now, nine years on and £100,000-worth of rebuilding and development later, the couple look out on to the stunning landscape across to Ford Moss Nature Reserve with the threat of staring at 10, 360-foot wind turbines at every turn. "We don't want to see our hard work going down the drain," says Nick. "None of us is opposed to alternative energy sources and we realise we can't keep on going the way we are, but these developers have no interest in local businesses.

BUSINESSES in north Northumberland rely heavily on tourism - but if plans to site huge wind farms in the area come to fruition, many fear this income may dry up. Alastair Gilmour reports.

The Lake District attracts more than 17 million visitors, one million overnight stays and tourist spending in excess of £34m a year. Its lure to tourists is well known - hills, dales, lakes and attractions that range from Beatrix Potter to owl sanctuaries, and traditional Lakeland shows to restored miniature steam railways. But now, if the West Cumbria branch of Friends of the Earth have their way, visitors will be heading to this particular green and pleasant corner of England to gawp at . . . wind farms.