Standup: The Missouri river area in Bismarck is the heart of the migration corridor for whooping cranes. Niemuth doesn't know the effect wind energy has had on the species.

Impact on Birds USA North Dakota

Standup: The Missouri river area in Bismarck is the heart of the migration corridor for whooping cranes. Niemuth doesn't know the effect wind energy has had on the species.

Impact on Birds North Dakota USA

Federal regulators adequately addressed whether a proposed wind-turbine project near San Diego would adversely impact migratory birds and global warming, the Ninth Circuit ruled Tuesday.

Impact on Birds Legal California

The appeals court decision said the BLM completed no surveys on whether sage grouse were at the site during the winter. "The inaccurate information and unsupported assumptions materially impeded informed decision-making and public participation," the decision said.

Impact on Birds Legal USA Oregon

The appeals court decision said the BLM completed no surveys on whether sage grouse were at the site during the winter. "The inaccurate information and unsupported assumptions materially impeded informed decision-making and public participation," the decision said.

Impact on Birds Legal Oregon USA

According to the environmental groups, a three-judge panel writing for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals said the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) had erred in deciding not to survey for sage-grouse at the project site.

Impact on Birds Legal USA Oregon

According to the environmental groups, a three-judge panel writing for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals said the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) had erred in deciding not to survey for sage-grouse at the project site.

Impact on Birds Legal Oregon USA

 Federal regulators did not adequately address whether a proposed wind-turbine project in southeastern Oregon would adversely impact the area's greater sage grouse population, the Ninth Circuit ruled Thursday.

Impact on Birds Legal USA Oregon

 Federal regulators did not adequately address whether a proposed wind-turbine project in southeastern Oregon would adversely impact the area's greater sage grouse population, the Ninth Circuit ruled Thursday.

Impact on Birds Legal Oregon USA

The new rule could further harm golden eagles, which are rarer than bald eagles and are being whacked by wind turbines in far greater numbers. Mr. Hutchins says that the lack of protection for golden eagles is “the biggest weakness of this whole rule.” The double standard is stunning.

Impact on Birds USA

Flowers noted the turbines will remain inactive throughout the summer while the flight pattern of the eagles continues to be monitored by the state. However, it's possible to curtail more turbines if necessary. Xcel won't know for sure until the fledglings leave the nest, possibly around late October, and if the eagles choose to continue returning to the nest. Around that time, the company may apply for a permit to remove or relocate the nest — known as an Eagle Take Permit — but as of now, it's a waiting game.

Impact on Birds Minnesota

In addition to idling the turbines closest to the nest through the summer, Xcel Energy plans to pursue a federal Eagle Take Permit that would protect the utility from liability in the event of an eagle death, according to an April 14 letter to the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission.

Impact on Birds Minnesota

Michael Hutchins, the Bird-Smart Wind Energy Program campaign director at the American Bird Conservancy, said "We still have a few concerns. One is that the plan seems heavily predicated on mitigation." There are only a few mitigation methods for wind energy that have been verified to reduce bird kills, Hutchins said. And while FWS's goal of maintaining stable or increasing populations of eagles over 100 years is laudable, the agency needs to implement a better method for tracking eagle deaths at wind energy facilities.

Impact on Birds USA

While several studies have highlighted the direct impact of renewable energy infrastructure on North American birds — think birds colliding with turbines, for instance — researchers don’t know as much about its indirect effects on the region’s avian species including prairie birds.

Impact on Birds USA

The Obama administration is revising a federal rule that allows wind-energy companies to operate high-speed turbines for up to 30 years, even if means killing or injuring thousands of federally protected bald and golden eagles. Under the plan announced Wednesday, companies could kill or injure up to 4,200 bald eagles a year without penalty.

Impact on Birds USA

Chokecherry and Sierra Madre, the largest onshore wind farm planned in the United States, would annually kill 10 to 14 golden eagles, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service projected in a draft environmental study released Wednesday. ...Federal officials attributed the decline to several factors. The permit application submitted by the project’s developer, Power Company of Wyoming, only considers the 500 turbines proposed in the project’s first phase. A second phase calls for an additional 500 turbines.

Impact on Birds Wyoming

According to Brett Ewald, a biologist and naturalist of Lakeshore Nature Tours, Western New York is the top raptor migration flyway in eastern North America. Raptors migrate from the south to the north to breed in the spring.

Impact on Birds New York

Hutchins conceded that, “Wind is not taking as many as feral cats." But he said it’s important to consider the species involved, and whether the losses are robins from the backyard or endangered whooping cranes making a stop along their migration route. ...Only Hawaii requires that bird deaths be tallied by a third party and made available to the public, according to Hutchins. He would like to see that standard adopted nationwide.

Impact on Birds USA

The group’s report claimed that the Somerset-Yates project would interfere with migratory songbirds and raptors, which “concentrate within six miles of the shoreline during spring and fall of each year.” Also, it would be built “close to breeding habitat for declining grassland birds,” which could be displaced, the conservation group claimed.

Impact on Birds New York

The nationwide survey by the ABC listed the vast numbers of migratory songbirds and raptors which rely on this area, as well as the proximity to the breeding habitat for declining grassland birds for why the Lighthouse Wind project is on the list. “(United States Fish and Wildlife Service) has expressed serious concern about this project, warning the developer that this is an area of extremely high avian use,” ABC said regarding the proposed project.

Impact on Birds USA New York