Wind Farms On Public Land Stymied By Eagle Concerns, Radar Interference
The article notes a growing recognition of conflicts wind development on public lands are running into, slowing wind development on public lands across the West.
Eagle Concerns Stymie Wind Farms – AP
The only project approved is the Spring Valley wind farm in Nevada where the nearest eagle nest was over four miles away. Gina Jones, BLM’s project leader, said the company agreed to extensive mitigation, such as putting “anti-perch” devices on transmission poles within two miles of the wind farm.
You may remember that we’ve considered Spring Valley, Nevada on this site. Having worked a little bit on the project, and considering the experts regard for the “extensive mitigation” measures that agency is accepting for these giant projects, it seems a bit disingenuous to suggest that BLM is doing a thorough job of genuinely considering the impacts. Here you have big Wind putting in a farm at the mouth of the largest bat roost in the Great Basin Ecosystem and smack-dab in a sub-basin between two ranges that serve as parallel corridors for eagles. Read the rest of this entry »