The U.S. Fish and Wildlife service has sent a letter to to the developers of three wind farms in upstate New York strongly urging they consider other locations for their proposed projects. Biologists for the agency are concerned that the wind farms will further threaten imperiled bat populations suffering from an unprecedented die-off. One of the wind energy developers, Iberdrola Renewables has decided to hold off on moving forward with the Horse Creek project until the impacts of white nose syndrome on bat populations are better understood. But developers of the other two projects have yet to make similar moves.

Two Adirondack-based environmental groups have come out against the installation of windmills atop Gore Mountain. The Association for the Protection of the Adirondacks and the Adirondack Council say their reasons for opposing the windmills range from aesthetic concerns to setting a poor precedent. ...David Gibson, executive director of the Association for the Protection of the Adirondacks, and John Sheehan, spokesman for the Adirondack Council, said they are waiting for the Barton Group to submit a complete application to the Adirondack Park Agency before making more specific comments on the project. The Residents Committee to Protect the Adirondacks is also waiting to see specifics before taking a position, said Michael Washburn, the North Creek-based organization's executive director.

The Delaware-Otsego Audubon Society is questioning the methods used by Invenergy LLC to conduct bird surveys at the proposed Moresville wind-farm site in Roxbury and Stamford. Invenergy officials say the studies were done correctly. The Audubon Society issued a letter in November expressing support for wind power as an alternative to fossil-fueled and nuclear energy, but added that the 2005 surveys of birds done at the project site are flawed. "Moresville has taken some serious shortcuts in their avian studies," Andy Mason, DOAS conservation chairman, said in a media release. "They carried out radar studies of nocturnal bird migration, but the radar location was 2-1/2 miles away and 1,000 feet lower than the ridge where the wind turbines would be located."

Thousands of birds nest around, or migrate through, the Lake Erie shoreline near Buffalo. Just how many of them would be killed by spinning windmill blades was the dominant concern at a meeting Thursday night on the area's potential to generate wind energy.

Every state in the northeast has set a target for increasing the amount of renewable energy it produces. Wind power is a big part of this push. Those towers and turbine blades can pose dangers to birds and bats. With more interest nationally in developing wind power, scientists are searching for more answers about the impacts, and how to minimize them.

More than 90,000 households could be powered by the proposed Hounsfield Wind Farm on Galloo Island in Jefferson County. "This is a real opportunity for renewable energy in New York State. It's a very unique site. There are not too many islands that, I think, in the New York waters that would be suitable for a wind farm," said Jack Nasca, Department of Environmental Conservation.

Two Chautauqua County residents are the first dual recipients of the Nature Sanctuary Society of Western New York’s ‘‘Conservationist of the Year Award.’’ The presentation to Leonard DeFrancisco of Falconer and Gil Randell of Mayville was made at the society’s annual banquet in recognition of their work in preventing construction of a wind energy project across a major North American bird migration route. The two men are principals in the Ripley Hawk Watch project that has gathered considerable information for more than 20 years regarding the northward migration of birds, bats and some insect species along the ridges bordering the Lake Erie shore.

Wind energy developers in New York now have guidelines on how to survey potential turbine sites for their impact on birds and bats. Earlier this month, the state Department of Environmental Conservation issued its advice regarding how to minimize damage to bat and bird habitats. "These guidelines set forth DEC's recommendations to commercial wind energy developers on how to characterize bird and bat resources at on-shore wind energy sites and how to estimate and document impacts resulting from the construction and operation of these projects."

State environmental officials want wind energy developers to pay closer attention to how their projects will affect birds and bats. The Department of Environmental Conservation proposed a set of guidelines to promote wind power and minimize the danger to birds and bats. Developers have been required to analyze how wind projects would affect wildlife before they are allowed to build and the new guidelines will standardize that review.

The state DEC office has released a much anticipated draft assessment on possible impacts of a wind farm to be located on a island just off of Sackets Harbor. The project, proposed by a West Seneca Company, Upstate New York Power Corporation, would put 84 wind turbines on Galloo Island, about 12 miles west of Sackets.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation wants to see more studies in the proposed Galloo Island Wind Farm's draft environmental impact statement. Upstate NY Power Corp., backed by Pattern Energy Group LP, San Francisco, plans to build an 84-turbine wind farm on the island rated at 252 megawatts. Recently, Pattern bought out Babcock & Brown Ltd.

Additionally, according to the National Wildlife Federation, wind-powered turbines could pose a threat to Indiana bats and other bat species, as well as birds. Some studies suggest the turbines might account for thousands of dead bats and birds yearly, the federation says.

The majority of the Gaines Wind Advisory Committee said at Wednesday's meeting that they don't believe wind energy is in the best interest of the Town of Gaines. ...Concerned Gaines residents filled the town hall to capacity Wednesday evening as they listened to prepared statements from each of the committee members listing worries about noise, costs, property values, vibration effects and the impact on wildlife. Of the eight-member board, two said they would be in favor of the 400-foot wind turbines. The remaining, including alternate Ted Swierznski sitting in for Royce Klatt, voiced opposition to the towers, while acknowledging their research is incomplete. "Federal and state subsidies are the only reason wind energy is taking a foothold in this country," said advisory member Marilynn Miller.

On Monday night, the Hamlin town board voted to extend a moratorium on wind development until June, unless leaders adopt a wind turbine law sooner. Some animal advocates say the town is a migration stop and wind turbines could have deadly consequences for birds and bats. ...Town leaders are requesting extra provisions in Hamlin’s upcoming wind turbine law that would require environmental experts conducting pre- and post- studies to follow protocols endorsed by the Audubon Society, New York state, and the US Department of the Interior.

Iberdrola Renewables is considering options for Horse Creek Wind Farm about two weeks after it told the Clayton Planning Board it was suspending its application. While the company insists it was an internal decision, its representative did admit that the nearby Indiana bat population was a consideration. Indiana bats are an endangered species and there is a hibernation spot near the proposed wind project. The bats also have been affected by white nose syndrome, the mysterious ailment that has killed thousands of bats. The loss of the endangered species to disease has made federal wildlife experts even more sensitive to losses induced by man.

The project today released the "Annual Report for the Maple Ridge Wind Power Project, Post-construction Bird and Bat Fatality Study - 2006" prepared by the consulting firm Curry and Kerlinger (May, 2007). The study concluded that "bird and bat fatalities found at the Maple Ridge turbines were within the range of fatalities found during late summer and fall migration at turbines in the United States."

News of a recently released consultants' study that found 123 birds and 326 bats dead - during a five-month period last year beneath approximately 50 turbines on the Tug Hill Plateau - has him worried the impact may be even more severe on birds and bats than the study found. "It's not a good thing for avian life," Newhart said, adding he'd previously contacted Cornell University's ornithology department to check on impact turbines have. "I'm going to send this information out to Cornell to see if that engages them.

Comments on the proposed Galloo Island Wind Farm submitted to the state Department of Environmental Conservation criticize the project's effects on birds and animals and ask for public access. DEC collected 22 written comments on the draft environmental impact statement submitted by Galloo Island developer Upstate NY Power Corp. Oral comments were taken at two public hearings May 18. As lead agency, DEC collects comments and then determines whether the draft statement is complete.

In response to information about a mysterious illness that has been associated with the deaths of more than 8,000 bats, conservation groups today asked the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to close all bat hibernation sites and withdraw all federal permits to “take” — that is, harm or kill — imperiled bats until the cause of the deaths is understood. One species of bat that is at risk is the endangered Indiana bat. While details are limited, scientists have given the name “white-nose syndrome” to describe a Fusarium mold that is exhibited around the dead bats’ noses. The syndrome is associated with the discovery of thousands of dead bats in at least two Albany, New York-area caves last winter. ...The Indiana bat is one of the most endangered terrestrial mammals in the world.

Guidelines meant to facilitate wind power development across New York state while minimizing the potential impacts to birds and bats were proposed Thursday by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, DEC. Currently, six wind farms are operating with a rated capacity of 423 megawatts from 263 turbines in Madison, Wyoming, Lewis and Erie counties. ...During the environmental review process, wind energy proposals must include assessments of the impacts the project could have on wildlife - especially birds and bats - and other natural resources. In the past, these assessments have been completed on a case-by-case basis. The draft guidelines suggest that before expending a lot of effort to site a wind energy project, developers should determine whether or not the location is within the habitat of a bird or bat species that is listed as threatened or endangered.