From cmarshbird at prodigy.net Sun Feb 8 09:52:41 2009 From: cmarshbird at prodigy.net (Carolyn A. Marsh) Date: Sun Feb 8 09:52:45 2009 Subject: [BCNnet] Protest Olympics tennis venue in Lincoln Park Message-ID: <05A476A315E74E0C8DDA6F6053932DDA@CLOVER> Action alert Lincoln Park and other bird sanctuaries threatened by Olympics 2016 The Chicago Audubon Society opposes construction of Olympic facilities on or near any lakefront sites; in particular, we oppose any facilities being constructed at Bill Jarvis Migratory Bird Sanctuary and Montrose Harbor in Lincoln Park. The shore of Lake Michigan, including Lincoln Park, is designated the "Chicago Lakefront Important Bird Area" by the National Audubon Society, and the City of Chicago acknowledges the significance of the description. More than three-fourths of all bird species seen in Illinois have passed through or paused to rest and feed along the Chicago lakefront. The Chicago Olympics 2016 is proposing the construction of a $25.8 million tennis complex just 100 feet from the Bill Jarvis Migratory Bird Sanctuary fence. The tennis complex would include a stadium, viewing areas and approximately 15 practice courts. The development, construction activities, increased human presence, stadium lights and glass associated with the tennis complex pose potential short and long-term hazards to birds before, during and following the Olympics. Construction of a tennis complex as described above would be counter-intuitive to any claims of commitment to protection of the existing environment. The Chicago Audubon Society, a City of Chicago Bird Agenda partner, along with many other organizations, has not been given the opportunity to adequately evaluate the Chicago 2016 environmental impact assessments for the games. Chicago Audubon Society believes that construction of the tennis complex or any other such facility in an Audubon Important Bird Area would be harmful to the existing environment and counter-intuitive to the protection of birds and their habitat. Other viable options situated away from the lakefront and away from Lincoln Park should be investigated by Chicago Olympics 2016. Please contact Mayor Daley's office and request that the proposed tennis complex be moved to protect lakefront bird sanctuaries. E-mail Sarah Beazley at sbeazley@cityofchicago.org. "Lake Michigan's shoreline is acknowledged as one of the most important flyways for migrant songbirds in the United States by ornithologists and bird watchers worldwide. In all, more than 300 species of birds have been recorded in the Chicagoland area since 1970." The Lake Michigan Flyway: Chicagoland's Role in the Miracle of Bird Migration - A Green Paper by the Bird Conservation Network For more information, please contact Chicago Audubon Society, Joe Lill, at TrptJoe@aol.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://screamer.ece.iit.edu/pipermail/bcnnet/attachments/20090208/9337c3f0/attachment.html From cmarshbird at prodigy.net Wed Feb 11 12:00:38 2009 From: cmarshbird at prodigy.net (Carolyn A. Marsh) Date: Wed Feb 11 12:01:17 2009 Subject: [BCNnet] RE: test case on wind turbines in Important Bird Area Message-ID: <77696B25BC544083B3B71927F82D47E4@CLOVER> Please read the public comments after the article. Carolyn Marsh http://nwitimes.com/articles/2009/02/11/news/lake/docbdc75534ae4c9d7e8625755 a0004febc.prt Council continues to deliberate wind turbines BY SUSAN BROWN sbrown@nwitimes.com 219.836.3780 | Wednesday, February 11, 2009 HAMMOND | The city's proposed wind turbines will continue under review by the City Council until the Port Authority provides a full accounting of the project's cost. During the public caucus prior to the council's regular meeting Monday, Fifth District Councilman Dan Repay had urged same night approval of the required variance, but Councilman At Large Robert Markovich requested disclosure of the payments to the engineering firms, attorneys and others involved in the project.[more] http://nwitimes.com/articles/2009/02/11/news/lake/docbdc75534ae4c9d7e8625755 a0004febc.prt -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://screamer.ece.iit.edu/pipermail/bcnnet/attachments/20090211/97a05530/attachment-0001.html From bobolnk at ix.netcom.com Wed Feb 11 12:16:21 2009 From: bobolnk at ix.netcom.com (bobolnk@ix.netcom.com) Date: Wed Feb 11 12:16:26 2009 Subject: [BCNnet] Birds and Cllimate change - more info, things you can do Message-ID: <30470310.1234376181283.JavaMail.root@mswamui-thinleaf.atl.sa.earthlink.net> An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://screamer.ece.iit.edu/pipermail/bcnnet/attachments/20090211/ffed2cec/attachment.html From cmarshbird at prodigy.net Wed Feb 11 13:04:37 2009 From: cmarshbird at prodigy.net (Carolyn A. Marsh) Date: Wed Feb 11 13:04:32 2009 Subject: [BCNnet] RE: correct web link: test case on wind turbines in Important Bird Area Message-ID: http://nwi.com/articles/2009/02/11/news/lake/docbdc75534ae4c9d7e8625755a0004 febc.txt This is the correct link for public comments under the article. Carolyn Marsh Council continues to deliberate wind turbines BY SUSAN BROWN sbrown@nwitimes.com 219.836.3780 | Wednesday, February 11, 2009 HAMMOND | The city's proposed wind turbines will continue under review by the City Council until the Port Authority provides a full accounting of the project's cost. During the public caucus prior to the council's regular meeting Monday, Fifth District Councilman Dan Repay had urged same night approval of the required variance, but Councilman At Large Robert Markovich requested disclosure of the payments to the engineering firms, attorneys and others involved in the project.[more] http://nwi.com/articles/2009/02/11/news/lake/docbdc75534ae4c9d7e8625755a0004 febc.txt -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://screamer.ece.iit.edu/pipermail/bcnnet/attachments/20090211/0f4b3c49/attachment.html From psaliga at flintcreekwildlife.org Mon Feb 16 19:19:13 2009 From: psaliga at flintcreekwildlife.org (psaliga@flintcreekwildlife.org) Date: Mon Feb 16 19:19:10 2009 Subject: [BCNnet] Volunteers needed to rescue and recover migratory birds in Chicago Loop Message-ID: <20090216181913.46023052d6fb736c754d9af4dce25d4c.a477676d37.wbe@email01.secureserver.net> An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://screamer.ece.iit.edu/pipermail/bcnnet/attachments/20090216/3f928157/attachment.html From pjbruchman at comcast.net Thu Feb 19 08:17:34 2009 From: pjbruchman at comcast.net (Joan Bruchman) Date: Thu Feb 19 08:17:48 2009 Subject: [BCNnet] Fw: BCN Sponsored Give Back to Birds - Early Spring Field Trip and Workday Message-ID: <499D69FE.000071.02932@JOAN> Skipped content of type multipart/alternative-------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: image/gif Size: 41807 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://screamer.ece.iit.edu/pipermail/bcnnet/attachments/20090219/e9ffd9f5/attachment-0001.gif From Bjdurk at aol.com Thu Feb 19 11:44:53 2009 From: Bjdurk at aol.com (Bjdurk@aol.com) Date: Thu Feb 19 11:45:26 2009 Subject: [BCNnet] 1. Birds and Climate change/ 2. Test Case WTGs in IBAs Message-ID: 1. When will Best Science US FWS interim wind turbine siting guidelines be required instead of voluntary observance? supporting: _http://www.abcbirds.org/newsandreports/releases/070430_testimony.html_ (http://www.abcbirds.org/newsandreports/releases/070430_testimony.html) Donald Michael Fry, PhD Director, Pesticides and Birds Program of the American Bird Conservancy to Chairwoman Bordello and distinguished members of the Fisheries, Wildlife and Oceans Subcommittee on May 1, 2007; Oversight Hearing on: ?Gone with the Wind: Impacts of Wind Turbines on Birds and Bats.? : ?The Fish and Wildlife Service developed an interim series of voluntary siting guidelines in 2003, and revised them after a prolonged comment period in 2005. Federal guidelines must be required rather than voluntary. The wind industry has provided ample evidence that voluntary guidelines are regarded as unimportant and are thus summarily dismissed? Subject: House Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife and Oceans Oversight Hearing on "Going, Going, Gone? An Assessment of the Global Decline in Bird Populations" Held: Thursday, July 10, 2008, at 10:00 a.m. Testimony (excerpt only): George Wallace, PhD Vice President for International Programs American Bird Conservancy "Last year, my colleague at ABC, Dr. Michael Fry presented testimony to the full Committee on the ongoing impact of commercial wind energy production. While the actual number of birds killed by wind turbines is unknown, estimates have been made in the range of 30,000 to 60,000 birds per year at the current level of wind development. However, the wind industry is prepared to increase the number of turbines 30 fold over the next 20 years in order to fulfill the President?s request that renewable energy projects supply 20% of the nation?s energy needs by 2030. At the current estimated mortality rate, the wind industry will be killing 900,000 to 1.8 million birds per year. While this number is a relatively small percentage of the total number of birds estimated to live in North America, many of the bird species being killed are already declining for other reasons, and losses of more than a million birds per year would exacerbate these declines. ABC recommends that any renewal of the production tax credit by Congress include provisions that require minimizing bird and bat kills by wind projects, and require developers to follow standard Best Management Practices in avoiding and minimizing bird and wildlife impacts in order to qualify for the full, taxpayer-provided subsidy." The Department of the Interior and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service guidelines for siting wind towers in 2003: "--Avoid placing turbines in documented locations of any species of wildlife, fish, or plant protected under the ESA. -- Avoid locating turbines in known local bird-migration pathways or in areas where birds are highly concentrated, unless mortality risk is low (e.g., birds rarely enter the rotor-swept area). Examples of high-concentration areas for birds are wetlands, state or federal refuges, private duck clubs, staging areas, rookeries, roosts, riparian areas along streams, and landfills. -- Avoid known daily-movement flyways (e.g., between roosting and feeding areas) and areas with a high incidence of fog, mist, low cloud ceilings, and low visibility." 2. How will US FWS, or MMS, reduce harm to endangered wildlife present in Nantucket Sound, post-construction Cape Wind, as the technology to count bird carcasses caused by wind turbines over water does not exist? supporting: April 21, 2008 USFWS provided to Dr. Cluck, Cape Wind Project Manager of MMS, this comments on the Cape Wind MMS DEIS: "The current framework that MMS is proposing would forgo refinement of pre-construction study protocols and set in motion an adaptive management process that would be doomed to failure because effective techniques to perform post-construction monitoring simply do not exist." CAlifornians for Renewable Energy President-Michael Boyd: "The Cape Wind project is sited over water so there is no way to quantify the impact of wind turbines on avian species because we have no way to count bird and bat carcases like we do in the Altamont Pass California where the turbines are over land. This also means that adaptive management will not work since we have no way to gage the impact of mitigation measures for these wind turbines." By Chris Metinko, Inside Bay Area 4/24/07 (answering, Who is Michael Boyd?) "A lawsuit filed against the county in October by the Golden Gate Audubon Society, Californians for Renewable Energy and four other local Audubon chapters challenged the county?s decision o renew permits for Altamont Pass wind turbines. A subsequent settlement forces the wind industry to commit to a 50 percent reduction in raptor deaths by November 2009, and remove the deadliest turbines and continuing winter shutdowns of the wind machines." [cut] 3. As endangered species present in Nantucket Sound are "at the brink of extinction", and Adaptive Management is "doomed to failure" according to US FWS, how will MMS avoid immitigable and illegal environmental damage, "extinction", post-construction Cape Wind? supporting: Cape Cod Times 4/22/08 Roseate terns: 'On the brink of extinction' "The roseate tern is listed as endangered, but we believe it is on the brink of extinction," said Jack Clarke, public policy director for the Massachusetts Audubon Society." Cape Cod Times 4/22/08. Mass Audubon's testimony on Cape Wind to the USACE: The President of Mass Audubon, Laura A. Johnson, submitted Mass Audubon's comments on the Cape Wind DEIS on February 23, 2005; to Ms. Karen Kirk Adams, the Cape Wind Energy Project Manager U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New England District -- Reference File No. NAE-2004-338-1, EOEA No. 12643: "By utilizing other bird mortality data provided in the DEIS, Mass Audubon staff scientists arrived at avian mortalities that ranged from 2,300 to 6,600 collision deaths per year." _http://www.massaudubon.org/PDF/CapeWindDEIS.pdf_ (http://www.massaudubon.org/PDF/CapeWindDEIS.pdf) Dr. Fry of ABC May 1, 2007; testimony to Chairwoman Bordello continued... "Biological Significance of wind turbine mortality" Excepts: "Collaborative efforts to successfully address the impacts of wind projects on birds and wildlife have been a failure? "While the actual number of birds killed by wind turbines is unknown, estimates have been made in the range of 30,000 to 60,000 per year at the current level of wind development. The wind industry is prepared to increase the number of turbines 30 fold over the next 20 years, in order to fulfill the President?s request that renewable energy projects supply 20% of the nation?s energy needs by 2030. At the current estimated mortality rate, the wind industry will be killing 900,000 to 1.8 million birds per year." [cut] ?From 'Selling the Wind' National Audubon, on wind tower siting: ?The fear is that with all the new wind farms rolling out, there is a new Altamont being created today,? says Greg Butcher, National Audubon?s director of bird conservation. ?But because we don?t have the data, we just don?t know about it." "The exact reasons for the improvement are a matter of debate, but collisions seem far fewer when wind farms keep out of major flyways and give a wide berth to rich prey sites like Altamont and attractive bird habitats such as wetlands. Some researchers speculate that modern technology also helps reduce the risks, since newer turbines allow the same amount of electricity to be generated with far fewer turbines." _The House Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife and Oceans_ (http://www.abcbirds.org/policy_wind_testimony.htm) Testimony of Donald Michael Fry, PhD Director, Pesticides and Birds Program American Bird Conservancy May 1, 2007 Room 1324 Longworth House Office Building. American Bird Conservancy, ABC: Donald Michael Fry, PhD Director, Pesticides and Birds Program American Bird Conservancy May 1, 2007 "Identification of important bird areas. These areas should be off-limits to wind development unless adequate preventative measures can be discovered to minimize incidental take of protected bird species." "Sites requiring special scrutiny include sites that are frequented by federally listed endangered species of birds and bats, in known bird migration pathways, areas where birds are highly concentrated, and areas that have landscape features known to attract large numbers of raptors." It is important and relevant to Cape Wind to note: "...the American Bird Conservancy has designated Cape Cod and the nearby islands as an Important Bird Area" 'Killer Wind' by Joe Eaton. http://www.earthisland.org/eijournal/new_articles.cfm?articleID=940&journalID= 82 Altamont CA wind tower siting workshop: _http://www.altamontsrc.org/alt_workshops.php_ (http://www.altamontsrc.org/alt_workshops.php) ?Altamont Pass turbines still killing birds of prey? January 12, 2008 ?Year-old plan to reduce the number of birds killed by turbines isn't working? _http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080112/A_NEWS/801120316 _ (http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080112/A_NEWS/801120316) San Francisco Chronicle: January 2, 2008 page A 1: THE DEADLY TOLL OF WIND POWER ?Despite yearlong effort to curb bird deaths by turbines on the Altamont Pass, many still have perished?? _http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2008/01/02/MNITTM9FA.DTL_ (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2008/01/02/MNITTM9FA.DTL) Dr. Fry's testimony of May 1, 2007: _http://www.abcbirds.org/newsandreports/releases/070430_testimony.html_ (http://www.abcbirds.org/newsandreports/releases/070430_testimony.html) THIS IS THE LEGAL QUAGMIRE WE MUST AVOID...see _http://www.altamontsrc.org/alt_settlement.php_ (http://www.altamontsrc.org/alt_settlement.php) look on the left side for a copy of the settlement Thank You, Barbara Durkin **************A Good Credit Score is 700 or Above. See yours in just 2 easy steps! (http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100126575x1218822736x1201267884/aol?redir=http:%2F%2Fwww.freecreditreport.com%2Fpm%2Fdefault.aspx%3Fsc%3D668072%26hmpgID %3D62%26bcd%3DfebemailfooterNO62) -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://screamer.ece.iit.edu/pipermail/bcnnet/attachments/20090219/5feb076e/attachment-0001.html From cmarshbird at prodigy.net Sat Feb 28 11:05:19 2009 From: cmarshbird at prodigy.net (Carolyn A. Marsh) Date: Sat Feb 28 23:43:57 2009 Subject: [BCNnet] wind turbine letters in two nwi papers Message-ID: <7BF5143463DB415D8D8CC7331B7354F6@CLOVER> Skipped content of type multipart/alternative-------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: image/gif Size: 5949 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://screamer.ece.iit.edu/pipermail/bcnnet/attachments/20090228/cbc9c0b4/attachment.gif