Construction of the first off-shore wind farm in Massachusetts has a hit a snag with the D.C. Circuit chiding regulators about plans to protect shorebirds.

Impact on Birds Offshore Wind Massachusetts

The legal dispute was generated by an Ottawa County birding organization, the Black Swamp Bird Observatory in Oak Harbor, which contends that bird death data held by both federal and state agencies is public information. Blue Creek Wind Farm LLC, which operates a wind farm in Van Wert and Paulding counties in Ohio and Allen County, Indiana, says releasing its bird and bat kill reports would provide "trade secrets" to its competitors.

Impact on Birds Ohio

A new eagle-management plan proposed by the federal government would give wind energy developers 30-year permits to “take” or incidentally kill protected Bald and Golden Eagles, without requiring the industry to share mortality data with the public or take into consideration such critical factors as proper siting. The so-called Eagle Take Rule, proposed by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, puts many thousands of the nation's protected Bald and Golden Eagles at unacceptable risk.

Impact on Birds USA

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