U.S. District Judge Michael Davis dismissed a lawsuit filed by the developer of the 100-turbine Merricourt project, which remains unbuilt amid lingering fears that whooping cranes and piping plovers will be slashed to death by its turbine blades.

PUC chair Beverly Heydinger listed several hurdles. It's not clear whether the project's new ownership changes its status as a community-based energy development ...New Era's contract with Xcel Energy to purchase power is in question, as is its construction timeline. Nor is it clear that it can build the project and abide by restrictions to protect eagles that could be required by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

An embattled wind energy project proposed for rural Goodhue County is getting another chance to show state regulators that it is taking adequate precautions to avoid killing nearby nesting bald eagles. ...The commission also will consider whether the project can keep its status as a community-based project. A PUC staff report recommended the commission show why status should not be revoked.

Bald Eagle Days has typically drawn a couple hundred people, but Ingram says it's unclear what effect the long hiatus and heightened local interest will have on those numbers. Minnesota produces the fifth-most wind energy in the country, but it's also in the top three for nesting bald eagles in the lower 48 states.

Wildlife agencies have previously commented on the EcoHarmony project, but new methods have been developed that could pose roadblocks for the ambitious wind project. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources filed paperwork designating the proposed wind project a "high risk" site for bats and birds.

Roughly 24 hours after winning a legal challenge that could kick-start construction of the AWA Goodhue wind project, the project was mentioned in a lawsuit filed by the American Bird Conservancy against the federal government.

The Freedom Foundation of Minnesota (FFM) has learned that the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) is investigating a report of a dead bald eagle found beneath a wind turbine in southeast Minnesota. The bald eagle was reportedly found over the weekend on a farm near the town of LeRoy.

"I don't think that the American people are ready to watch Minnesota's nesting bald eagles be destroyed on behalf of a Texas millionaire." The commission's decision highlights an emerging conflict between a demand for clean energy and growing evidence wind farms can kill hundreds of thousands of birds and bats a year.

Bald eagles won an unexpected victory Thursday when Minnesota regulators delayed a wind farm near Red Wing for at least a year because the developer failed to produce an adequate plan to protect America's national symbol and other flying creatures.

The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission rejected a developer's plan to protect eagles and other wildlife that might be harmed by a controversial wind farm project in the southeastern region of the state. ...Neighbors who oppose the project packed the hearing room and took turns to speak about flaws they see in the project.

The company says it will apply for an eagle take permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The permit would allow the turbines to kill a certain number of eagles before the company would face penalties.

The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission has postponed a hearing on a plan to limit bird and bat deaths at a controversial wind farm proposed for Goodhue County.

The conflict between these two opposing environmental goals -- clean energy and protecting wildlife -- is occurring increasingly as wind farms sprout across the nation. There is a growing realization that the massive towers with blades that travel hundreds of miles per hour are killing millions of wandering birds and bats. The concerns are having an effect.

Mageau's wind study was funded through by the state Department of Natural Resources, which sought information on whether birds migrate near the best wind locations. "One of the promises we made is that we would sort of develop this regional wind map, and we would do a bird migratory route overlay," he said. But no one had studied the birds, beyond raptor counts in Duluth. That led to Peterson's study.

Energy advocates are eyeing wind turbines to create electricity along the North Shore. Bird researchers are studying where the migrating birds fly most often. Once they know, they can advise the energy people on areas to avoid. ..."We know we have a globally significant raptor migration route here that [wind turbines] could have a serious impact on if not done correctly,'' Niemi said. "But we also have these hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of passerines [small birds] that come through here at pretty much the same time that most people don't even know about. We have to look out for them, too.''