News
Category:
Impact on Birds or Oregon
Browse in :
All
> Topics
> Impact on Wildlife
> Impact on Birds (713)
All > Location > USA > Oregon (363)
All of these categories
All > Location > USA > Oregon (363)
All of these categories
Oregon wind farm may get OK to kill Golden Eagles; But only a few, and environmentalists aren't fighting
January 7, 2012 by Matt McDonald in KTVZ TV
January 7, 2012 by Matt McDonald in KTVZ TV
Next fall, developers hope to break ground on a wind farm big enough to provide electricity for all of Central Oregon. But the whirring blades of wind turbines can kill the federally protected golden eagle --.and now a controversial proposal says that's okay, to a limited extent.
BPA asks feds to reconsider dispute pitting wind farms against dams
January 7, 2012 by Ted Sickinger in The Oregonian
January 7, 2012 by Ted Sickinger in The Oregonian
The order ignited something of a brush fire in Northwest energy circles, with BPA's public utility customers making a perennial complaint that the feds are usurping control of an agency that, by statute, is supposed to benefit the region. They also reject the idea that BPA should absorb any costs to integrate wind power onto the grid, since the bulk of that electricity is shipped out of state.
Also filed under [
Energy Policy|
Oregon]
Feds propose allowing wind-farm developer to kill golden eagles
January 5, 2012 by James Eng in MSNBC
January 5, 2012 by James Eng in MSNBC
The federal government is proposing to grant a first-of-its-kind permit that would allow the developer of a central Oregon wind-power project to legally kill golden eagles, a regulatory move being closely watched by conservationists.
Under the federal and California endangered species acts, it’s illegal for anyone to kill a condor without first securing a permit to do so. Given that the government has not issued such an “incidental take” permit and has no intention of doing so, if a turbine kills a condor, the operator could be charged criminally. Environmentalists could also ask a judge to shut down a wind farm where a condor died.
"It's unfortunate but the area in Egypt with the highest wind speed is also a bottleneck in one of the world's biggest bird migration routes," environmental consultant Mindy Baha al-Din told Egypt Independent.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar approves transmission line on north side of Steens Mountain
December 30, 2011 by Richard Cockle in The Oregonian
December 30, 2011 by Richard Cockle in The Oregonian
Among the environmental group's objections: The Echanis wind turbines would go on 10,000 acres along a ridge used by golden eagles and other raptors and could block migration routes for elk and mule deer. Power generated by the turbines also is likely to go directly to California "at the cost of one of Oregon's crown jewels," Little said.
Also filed under [
Transmission|
Oregon]
To date, there are only five known instances in North America of bald eagles killed by wind turbines, said Rich Davis, a biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service who has been monitoring the project for two years. But the Goodhue project is the first to be constructed in an area widely used by both bald and golden eagles for nesting and migrating, he said.
Also filed under [
Impact on Birds|
Minnesota]
Dead geese seen on roads near turbines
December 16, 2011 by Kelly Johnson-Eilola in Watertown Daily News
December 16, 2011 by Kelly Johnson-Eilola in Watertown Daily News
On the night of Dec. 7, I drove through some very thick fog. As I traveled state Route 190 from Ellenburg to Brainardsville my fog lights illuminated one of the grizzliest scenes I have experienced. I counted 15 bloody, mutilated corpses of snow geese spread out over several miles.
Some scientists believe thousands of bats, including non-endangered species like the Seminole bat, are dying each year in wind turbines, based on available counts of bat deaths at existing wind farms.
"Most biologists will tell you that over time and cumulatively, [bats] won't be able to sustain these fatality rates," said Ed Arnett, the director of science and policy for Bat Conservation International.
An 11,000-acre wind energy farm proposed near a wildlife refuge in northeastern North Carolina is facing concerns about the fate of thousands of migrating swans and geese that would share air space with giant spinning turbines.
Also filed under [
Impact on Birds|
North Carolina]
The available data, science and policy haven't caught up with the pace of wind energy development. Still, wind energy development is apparently killing golden eagles, which seem especially susceptible to collisions with the turbines.
Firm pulls plug on wind farm near Winters, citing risk to birds
November 23, 2011 by Rick Daysog in Sacramento Bee
November 23, 2011 by Rick Daysog in Sacramento Bee
A San Francisco company said it has abandoned plans for a large-scale wind farm near Winters because the turbines could have harmed golden eagles, bald eagles and other local bird species. ...Dallas said the proposed wind farm has received appropriate permits but does not have a contract to sell power to any of the local utilities.
Wind farm effort's end blamed on agency; Fish and Wildlife says investors didn't understand process
November 17, 2011 by Kathie Durbin in The Columbian
November 17, 2011 by Kathie Durbin in The Columbian
But an agency official says the five public utilities backing the proposed 82-megawatt Radar Ridge project failed to understand the environmental review process the service was required to follow in considering a project that could affect the threatened marbled murrelet, a rare seabird that nests in old-growth forests near the ocean.
Also filed under [
Impact on Birds|
Washington]
Energy farm proposals still blowing in the wind
November 9, 2011 by Joel Gallob in Rocket-Miner News
November 9, 2011 by Joel Gallob in Rocket-Miner News
The matter of protecting eagles reflects a continuing effort on the part of the BLM, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Teton Wind Power to mitigate impacts on the birds.
She said U.S. Fish and Wildlife discovered three eagle nests in the project area and is the lead agency working to craft a protection plan.
A West Virginia wind farm that I wrote about last month because of its battery installation was the site of a big bird kill in October, according to a consultant's report for the Fish and Wildlife Service.
Also filed under [
Impact on Birds|
West Virginia]
The bird conservation group has advocated for years to require wind farms to take measures to reduce bird deaths, including restrictions on lighting that can draw birds to their deaths and planning that locates the facilities away from habitats that attract birds, such as wetlands.
Government agencies that depend on radar -- such as the Department of Defense and the National Weather Service -- are spending millions in a scramble to preserve their detection capabilities. ...Spinning wind turbines make it hard to detect incoming planes. To avoid that problem, military officials have blocked wind farm construction near their radars -- and in some cases later allowed them after politicians protested.
Scientists: Wildlife benefit from careful wind farm placement
November 5, 2011 by Eve Newman in Laramie Boomerang
November 5, 2011 by Eve Newman in Laramie Boomerang
Sophie Osborn, a wildlife biologist with the Wyoming Outdoor Council, said the council supports the development of renewable energy sources such as wind, but industrial-scale development has environmental costs such as bird and bat mortality and habitat fragmentation.
The placement of wind farms is a critical element in protecting wildlife, she said.
Hundreds of migrating birds die at Laurel Mountain wind farm
October 30, 2011 by Rick Steelhammer in The Charleston Gazette
October 30, 2011 by Rick Steelhammer in The Charleston Gazette
Bird kills reinforce the need for "mandatory federal operational standards, as opposed to the optional, voluntary guidelines that are currently under discussion."
According to the American Bird Conservancy, the West Virginia bird kill numbers fly in the face of industry assertions that wind turbines kill, on average, two birds per year.
A major energy firm has withdrawn its planning application to develop a 29-turbine wind farm at Waterhead Moor near Largs, North Ayrshire.
SSE - formerly Scottish and Southern Electric - said the decision had been made due to "a range of construction and planning challenges" over the site.