People see good and bad in O'Malley proposal to lease state park land for wind turbines

Residents like idea, while wildlife biologists worry about loss of forest ecosystem

Opinions remain mixed over the O'Malley administration's proposal to lease state park land for wind power turbines.

"I don't know why they wouldn't do it," Mildred Bray, Oakland resident, said. "I've read a lot of the pros and concerns about it. I've visited them in West Virginia and Pennsylvania. I can't see the big opposition on it."

Bray said that if the turbines would be effective for bringing electricity to Garrett County more efficiently, they would be a benefit.

Linda May, a Terra Alta, W.Va., resident who works in McHenry, had a similar opinion to Bray, feeling that the turbines, proposed to be placed on Backbone and Meadow mountains, would be positive for the area.

"I think it's a great idea if it works," May said. "I like the ones I see at Thomas (W.Va.). It's interesting to drive under them, and it's supposed to be more efficient."

However, for Peter Skylstad and Kevin Dodge, wildlife biologists and professors at Garrett College, the loss of 400 acres just for the turbines makes them wary of things to come.

Skylstad said he is worried that it is something that would set a precedent for other permanent impacts and the continued shrinking of the size of the forest ecosystem. He added that as the property proposed is public land, he doesn't feel it is something the state can make a profit from.

"The public should make that decision," Skylstad said. "At least they should be informed. One of the reasons I came here is I appreciated what Maryland had up here, and they keep inching into that environment."

Dodge said that his concern with the lease of the public land, is that there would also have to be a road system established through the state forest, as well as power lines to transmit the turbine-generated power. He said that by including that into the estimated acreage of land, it would be well beyond the 400-acre proposal.

He added that there simply is not enough information on how wind turbines affect the eco-habitat, particularly ad-ding as many as 40 to 50 turbines on Backbone Mountain and 50 to 60 on Meadow Mountain.

"I just don't think it's the best use of state land," Dodge said. "It will have drawbacks to timber production, the natural habitat and to aesthetics. And I don't know that they've fully determined the viability of wind power in our area and the effects of wind turbines on our migratory birds and bats."