We're not sure northeast Cowley County is one of those places.

The area is wide-open ranch land, high enough to let the southern Flint Hills be a sea of grass.

But a wind farm is coming to Cowley County nonetheless.

The Cowley County Commission will be wise to approve the licensing agreement drafted by administrator LeRoy Alsup and representatives of Elk River II, a subsidiary of British Petroleum.

Elk River II will be an extension of the Elk River wind farm in southern Butler County.

Kansas law exempts wind farms from property taxes. So the agreement calls for substantial licensing fees. Those fees start at $1,500 per megawatt of electric power generated.

The potential capacity of Elk River II is 500 megawatts.

This money should more than pay the costs of extra work created for the county by the construction and operation of the wind farm. Some of that money should be shared with other affected taxing entities.

The draft agreement contains rather weak provisions for monitoring the wind farm's effect on the environment. We encourage the parties and the commission to strengthen those provisions.

Wind farms have a place in the nation's search for alternative energy sources, although that place is far from firm.

The economic viability of wind farms still depends on tax incentives. Their long-term profitability in the volatile energy market is uncertain.

Gov. Kathleen Sebelius has acted to protect the "core" of the Kansas Flint Hills from wind farms and the visual disruption they bring to one of the state's prime tourist attractions. We wish she had included southern Butler and northern Cowley counties as part of that core.

But here we are. A wind farm is on the way. Let's do our best to limit its adverse impact on the land where we live.