Western Maine Audubon's wind power resolution

The Land Use Regulation Commission is considering a request from TransCanada to allow extension of its Kibby wind farm into a portion of LURC jurisdiction that has been considered unexpedited. Currently this area is subject to the usual protected mountain zoning restrictions.

This request has focused attention on the rules governing such expansion. We recall that the Wind Power Task force enabling legislation was rapidly moved through the Legislature last year. It is our belief that these rules are currently too vague and permissive. Because a central part of our chapter's mission relates to protection of the habitat in our region, western Maine, we have taken particular care to study this project and the implications of its expansion.

Rather than allow this project to go forward at this time we feel that a moratorium on expansion of the expedited territories is called for pending better definition of these rules. Furthermore, because the siting criteria for wind power lack provision for adequate study of wildlife and environmental impacts, we believe a general moratorium should be put in place until we have better assessment methods.

We share with our parent organization, Maine Audubon, a belief that properly sited, wind power can play a role in reducing our reliance on non renewable energy sources. However, also like our parent organization, our chapter's foremost concern is how the location of wind-power plants might affect wildlife. Potential impacts include effects on soils and plants, bird and bat migration patterns, fragmentation of habitat from roads and power lines, and bird and bat morality from the turbines themselves.

While there has been pressure to move ahead with projects as quickly as possible, we believe a deliberate approach makes more sense. In its recent publication, Birdscope, The Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology cautioned that at this point proper studies have not been done. Even more fundamentally, they believe that the proper technologies and methods have yet to be developed to conduct these studies properly. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service has recommended a minimum of three years of study before wind project sites are approved to assess wildlife impacts yet no Maine project has yet gotten this kind of assessment.

The original wind power legislation was passed quickly but in reality we should proceed with such key land use decisions with due diligence.

Since LURC is now being asked to expand the expedited wind zone we believe the criteria for expansion needs to be redrawn to reflect these issues. These criteria should include guidelines for assessment of wildlife impacts along the lines of the USFWS recommendations.

In conclusion, we would like to stress that we offer these recommendations in a constructive spirit, hoping to play a positive role in decisions about the future of the mountains in which we live and which we love. Maine has a long history of making difficult conservation decisions: a good example would be LURC's courageous and far-sighted creation of the Rangeley Plan. In that instance the commission articulated a plan and other state agencies involved in the siting of wind power in the mountains to view our recommendations in the light of such examples.

Burt Knapp, president
Paul McGuire
Christine Blais
Nancy Knapp
Steve Bien
Peggy Dwyer
Vera Traften
Art Wilder
Nick Rehagen
Robin Lee
Sallie Wilder
Cindy Langwisch Rehagen