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<TITLE>Re: [BCNnet] Wind energy project near Horicon Marsh in Wisconsin</TITLE>
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<FONT FACE="Lucida Grande">Is the land near wildlife refuges and natural areas free or something? Perhaps wind is covered under the mining law . I just cant figure it out.<BR>
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I cannot figure out why most turbine projects just happen to be right next to critical wildlife habitat such as Horicon Marsh.<BR>
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I have never heard of a trubine project going up on a brownfield or paved area of land for example, yet they are on top of the Appalachians ( with much bat mortality in particular I understand), proposed to go into the critical ocean area around Cape Cod and now Horicon Marsh.<BR>
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I wonder how many miles away from a landing site do the birds start losing elevation . Siting turbines a couple of miles from Horicon might be right in the flight path for landings. I understand many turbines are 400 feet tall.<BR>
The other critical issues about turbines are required lighting and guy wires and even just electric cables coming out of the place that can pose hazards for birds.<BR>
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Are the turbines built yet in Bureau County Il near the wildlife habitat there? I haven’t heard any news on that lately.<BR>
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It seems to me this industry is not following guidelines for placement and that is the whole game in my opinion,<BR>
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Until we can get them to follow guidelines for placement , it seems that they have free rein to destroy or compromise any land they can get.<BR>
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A promise of a mortality study does not make it any more reasonable to me.<BR>
I have heard of turbine mortality studies where they went out irregularly, after predator hours and looked for carcasses.<BR>
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Given our experiences with strikes and predators, this is a less than adequate regimen. We also know from downtown that one night you may have 3 birds hit on the route and the next you could have 60. It just depends, Off and on monitoring of turbines really concerns me.<BR>
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Thanks for posting this Bob. I would not have known otherwise.<BR>
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Robbie<BR>
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Robbie Hunsinger<BR>
Founder & Director<BR>
Chicago Bird Collision Monitors<BR>
http://www.birdmonitors.net<BR>
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</FONT><BLOCKQUOTE><FONT SIZE="2"><FONT FACE="Arial">The piece pasted below was posted to wisbirdn, the Wisconsin birders listserv. In view of the discussion at yesterday's quarterly BCN meeting about wind energy generation, the American Bird Conservancy policy, etc., I thought BCNnetters and representatives to the BCN coalition would be interested in what's happening at Horicon<BR>
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Regards<BR>
Bob Fisher<BR>
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In a very interesting development in the news, the Public Service Commision<BR>
has accepted the plan for the 133-turbine Forward Energy <BR>
wind installation near Brownsville. It looks like a fairly-reasonable<BR>
compromise was reached, with the PSC deciding that no turbines may be<BR>
located within 2 miles of Horicon NWR. <BR>
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>From the article in the Business Journal: (see<BR>
http://milwaukee.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/stories/2005/07/04/daily29.html?j<BR>
st=b_ln_hl ): <BR>
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"Under the decision, the PSC stipulates that none of the turbines must be<BR>
within two miles of the Horicon Marsh to protect the wildlife.<BR>
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On average, turbines will be 4 miles to 4.5 miles away from the marsh, the<BR>
agency said. In addition, the PSC requires Forward Energy to vigorously<BR>
pursue post construction studies to learn more about impacts on birds and<BR>
bats in the area. <BR>
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'The Horicon Marsh is a national treasure,' PSC chairman Dan Ebert said in<BR>
a statement. 'The possible impacts on birds due to the wind project's<BR>
proximity to the Horicon Marsh required a larger buffer zone between the<BR>
wind turbines and the marsh, as proposed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife<BR>
Service and Department of Natural Resources.' "<BR>
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The USFWS and WDNR had suggested a greater "setback" distance, but at least this acts on that concern. Some may be still dissatistfied with this<BR>
distance - you can decide for yourself.<BR>
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William P. Mueller<BR>
Issues Committee Chair, Wisconsin Bird Conservation Initiative (WBCI)<BR>
Conservation Chair, Wisconsin Society for Ornithology (WSO)<BR>
1242 S. 45 St.<BR>
Milwaukee, WI 53214<BR>
(414) 643-7279<BR>
E-mail: iltlawas@earthlink.net<BR>
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