News
Category:
Impact on Bats
Environmental Tribunal discusses acceptable kill rates of endangered bats
March 10, 2013 by Cheryl Anderson in Prince Island County Live
March 10, 2013 by Cheryl Anderson in Prince Island County Live
Dr Barclay had mentioned he did not agree with Ontario Bat Guidelines for Industrial Wind Turbine projects. When asked why, he answered that the allowable threshold of killing seven bats per year per turbine was inadequate. With the numbers of turbines growing exponentially in North America, the cumulative effects of such a high fatality rate, on top of the effects of white nose syndrome, will cause harm to the species at the population level.
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Impact on Wildlife|
Canada]
"Animals at night fly right into them," Carter said. "Imagine them flying at night 300 to 400 feet off the ground so they don't bump into a tree. Now wind turbines are in their fly space."
Which is why USFWS required NextEra to increase the cut-in speed to 7 meters per second, from a half hour before sunset to a half hour after sunrise starting on July 15 and ending on Oct. 1 of each year.
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Impact on Wildlife|
Indiana]
Already a dead Golden eagle was found on February 25 at a wind turbine generator in the Spring Valley, a place with a dense population of eagles. Those who knew thae area had predicted eagle mortality was likely, but no one thought it would be so soon after the project was completed.
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Impact on Wildlife|
Nevada]
Turbine delay as bats stall Dundonnell wind farm plan
February 11, 2013 by Sean McComish in The Standard
February 11, 2013 by Sean McComish in The Standard
A yellow-bellied bat has put the brakes on plans for a massive wind farm near Dundonnell.
The 89-turbine project will have to jump through another hurdle after Planning Minister Matthew Guy ordered an environmental effects statement (EES) to see if there would be any impact on the yellow-bellied sheath-tailed bat.
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Australia / New Zealand]
Wind turbine pressure change kills bats, research may help prevent future deaths
October 30, 2012 by Christine Peterson in Casper Star-Tribune
October 30, 2012 by Christine Peterson in Casper Star-Tribune
Miles away, wind turbines sat motionless in the windless night. Their spinning blades can be deadly to bats, bursting capillaries in their lungs before the blades hit their tiny bodies. Three Wyoming bats are particularly susceptible when they migrate from summer to winter ranges.
Keinath and Abernethy were looking for bats to tell them which, if any, species called the area home.
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Impact on Wildlife|
Wyoming]
Of Wyoming's 15 resident bat species, three of them are most susceptible to the deadly effects of wind turbines: the hoary bat, the silver-haired bat and the eastern red bat.
They are Wyoming's only tree-roosting bats, said Douglas Keinath, senior zoologist with the Wyoming Natural Diversity Database.
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Impact on Wildlife|
Wyoming]
The Vermont Agency of Natural Resources (ANR) has issued the first permit of its kind for a wind project in the state allowing a small number of fatalities of endangered bats, which could collide with the turbine blades or be affected by the pressure changes created by the rotating turbines.
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Impact on Wildlife|
Vermont]
Group: Bat care plan is unsound; Draft suffers from ‘various legal flaws'
October 8, 2012 by Elaine Blaisdell in Cumberland Times-News
October 8, 2012 by Elaine Blaisdell in Cumberland Times-News
Save Western Maryland believes that the HCP is not based on the best available science and is in violation of the Endangered Species Act; that a full environmental impact statement is warranted under the National Environmental Protection Act; and that the draft EA does not adequately analyze alternatives in violation of NEPA.
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Impact on Wildlife|
Maryland]
Game Commission withdraws its proposal to extend protections to some bat species
October 6, 2012 by Shannon M. Nass in Post Gazette
October 6, 2012 by Shannon M. Nass in Post Gazette
In January, the wildlife service updated its bat mortality estimate, claiming that at least 5.7 million to 6.7 million bats have been lost to white nose syndrome, prompting agency director Daniel Ashe to call it an "unprecedented wildlife crisis."
Also filed under [
Impact on Wildlife|
Maine]
"Indiana bats are beginning to slip away from us," said Mollie Matteson, a bat specialist with the Center for Biological Diversity, which this spring petitioned the White House for national action on the disease outbreak. "At this point, every remaining Indiana bat is a precious survivor.
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Impact on Wildlife|
USA]
Conservation effort focuses on bats and wind turbines
August 31, 2012 by Chuck Quirmbach in Wisconsin Public Radio
August 31, 2012 by Chuck Quirmbach in Wisconsin Public Radio
The Fish and Wildlife Service has begun to work with Wisconsin and seven other Midwest states on a habitat conservation plan. The service says the aim is to promote the development of clean energy, while helping federally endangered species known to be at risk from wind farms.
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Impact on Wildlife|
Wisconsin]
Without the permit, now in its draft form, First Wind would be prohibited by law from any fatalities of the endangered bat species as a result of its activity at the Sheffield site.
The Boston-based First Wind company is seeking the permit citing economic hardship.
Also filed under [
Impact on Wildlife|
Vermont]
Beech Ridge Energy is looking for a 25-year permit that would essentially get them off the hook for all the endangered bats that get killed flying into its turbine blades.
The project currently has almost 70 turbines in action and has plans to put 30 more in the area.
Also filed under [
Impact on Wildlife|
West Virginia]
The PSC dismissed the complaint because the sitting order does not contain material terms and conditions related to noise or flicker and because the agency does not possess the statutory authority to address the issues raised by Braithwaite, according to the commission's final order.
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Impact on Wildlife|
West Virginia]
To comply with the terms of a lawsuit settlement, Maryland-based Beech Ridge Energy is seeking a 25-year permit for its wind farm in Greenbrier and Nicholas counties. The existing 67 turbines and another 33 that are planned could harm Virginia big-eared and Indiana bats.
Also filed under [
Impact on Wildlife|
West Virginia]
Pending further evaluation, AES has voluntarily ceased nighttime operation of the turbines at the Laurel Mountain facility. The facility has been testing different cut-in speeds to reduce bat mortality. The Indiana bat was found near a turbine that was operating at a cut-in speed of 3.5 meters per second.
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Impact on Wildlife|
West Virginia]
The research, funded by the Leverhulme Trust, involved halting microturbine movement at 20 sites across the UK and examining the effect on bird and bat activity. Bird activity was not significantly affected but bat activity was 54% lower in close proximity to operating turbines.
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UK]
Bats & blades: More research needed on bat, wind farm fatalities
July 30, 2012 by Dan Haugen in Midwest Energy News
July 30, 2012 by Dan Haugen in Midwest Energy News
Laura Ellison is an ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey in Fort Collins, Colorado, who has spent the last 20 years studying bats and other small mammals. Earlier this month she presented on the bat and wind farm issue at the North America Congress for Conservation Biology.
"The newer, larger turbines seem to be worse for bats," Ellison said.
Scientists have discovered that the fungus exists in Europe but bats there seem to be unaffected by it, possibly because they have been exposed to it for a longer time and have developed an immunity, explains Kilpatrick. White nose appears to sicken bats while they are in caves because their immunity is suppressed during hibernation, he said.
Sheffield Wind, whose 16-turbine, 40-megawatt utility scale project in the Northeast Kingdom went on line last fall, has filed for the permit because a fungus has decimated Vermont bat populations and placed them on the endangered or threatened species list. "White-nose syndrome" has caused mortality of more than 90 percent of the population of little brown and long-eared bats in the state.
Also filed under [
Impact on Wildlife|
Vermont]
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