FreeLists / va-bird / [va-bird] Re: Stop wind power thread

["P R Mocko" <paulbirds19@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

I am asking all posters on wind power to discontinue this thread on VA-Bird. 
  Although an important bird topic, it is inappropriate for this list serve.

Good birding, and happy new year,

Paul Mocko
VA-Bird Owner





>From: Dan Boone <ddanboone@xxxxxxxxx>
>Reply-To: ddanboone@xxxxxxxxx
>To: va-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>Subject: [va-bird] ridgeline migration and wind
>Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 17:52:52 -0800 (PST)
>
>I've been following the exchanges about wind turbine impacts to
>wildlife and was puzzled about the participation of Mr. Tom Gray, who
>is the communications director and deputy executive director of the
>American Wind Energy Association - a "national trade association that
>represents wind power plant developers, wind turbine manufacturers,
>utilities, consultants, etc."  Apparently Tom makes a habit of
>monitoring the list-servs of bird groups throughout the region
>(nationally?) in order to inject info or views favorable to the wind
>industry.  I trust others are aware of Mr. Gray's role in this
>discussion, and hopefully note his bias when considering the
>information he selectively but generously provides.
>
>His latest post to VA-Birds continues the long-standing efforts of
>avian consultants hired by developers of "industrial" windplants to
>dismiss or minimize concerns regarding wildlife impacts due to siting
>of very tall wind turbines along Appalachian ridges.
>
>Unlike in the west, the vast majority of birds likely to be killed at
>wind turbines in the east are neotropical migrants - which pass through
>our region mostly at night.  Many of these species are already under
>severe pressure due to loss and fragmentation of breeding and wintering
>habitat.  Studies show that few of these kinds of birds are caught by
>cats or are hit by cars.  Unfortunately, pro-wind advocates like to
>cite high bird mortality totals owing to other human structures while
>perhaps ignoring the overarching concern that cumulative impacts to
>these birds are additive, not relative.
>
>While Mr. Gray is correct in his assertion that it is only a "theory"
>that birds might be channeled by prominent ridgelines such as found in
>VA, he fails to mention that this theory is actually supported by data
>- whereas the opinions of the wind industry's paid consultants have no
>data to support their self-serving claim that nocturnal bird migration
>is not influenced by mountainous terrain.
>
>Dr. Paul Kerlinger is the principal avian migration consultant hired by
>wind energy developers here in the east.  In numerous "Avian Risk
>Assessment" reports assessing wildlife impacts of proposed windplants
>in MD, PA and WV, Dr. Kerlinger routinely has dismissed concerns about
>harm to nocturnal migrants due to siting of extremely tall wind
>turbines atop prominent ridgelines (claiming ?night migrants are not
>known to follow ridges at night?).  However, he has never studied the
>phenomenon of nocturnal avian migration in this region, and was not
>aware of (or failed to disclose the knowledge of) research that
>indicated ridges can indeed channel the movements of songbirds during
>night-time flights.
>
>The fact that nocturnal migrant songbirds fly along and over ridge
>crests has been documented in the Central Appalachians for over 20
>years, as the following excerpt from published research involving the
>region's first radar monitoring demonstrates:
>
>"The patterns of migration detected in a mountainous area suggest that
>nocturnal migrants may well be influenced by topography.  For the two
>nights we observed [Oct. 4 and 14, 1980] it appears that birds on the
>upwind side of the ridge were moving along the ridge, birds at the
>crest were moving along and over the ridge and few birds were found at
>low altitude on the downwind side of the ridge."  Source:  Seilman, M.
>S., L. A. Sheriff, and T. C. Williams. 1981.  Nocturnal migration at
>Hawk Mountain, Pennsylvania.  American Birds 35:906-909.
>
>Furthermore, mountain ridges have been found to orient and concentrate
>night-migrating birds in Europe and elsewhere in the Appalachian
>Mountains of the United States.  This following paper was published:
>
>Williams, T.C., J.M. Williams, P.G. Williams, and P. Stokstad.  2001.
>Bird migration through a mountain pass studied with high resolution
>radar, ceilometers, and census. Auk 118:389-403;
>
>and it concluded -
>
>?Our observations and those of Bruderer and his coworkers [involving
>the Alps] indicate that broadfront migration should not be assumed for
>the passage of avian migrants over mountainous areas.  That is
>important for evaluation of structures such as wind-powered electrical
>generators or communication towers on ridge lines.  Although our
>studies were not designed to observe concentrations of migrants at
>topographical features, reaction of migrants to topography that we did
>observe suggested such concentrations during favorable and unfavorable
>conditions.  Concentrations could result either as birds moved along a
>corridor, such as a pass or ridge line, or they could result from birds
>moving up and over a ridge meeting migrants already at that altitude
>and thus producing large numbers of birds a few tens of meters above
>the ridge summit.  Our ceilometer observations of large numbers of
>birds near crests of ridges are particularly relevant in that regard.?
>
>Consequently, Dr. Kerlinger?s notion that nocturnal migrant songbirds
>do not follow or fly along Appalachian ridges at night is not
>corroborated by either of the two investigations of this phenomenon
>published to date.  Furthermore, the observations by Williams et al.
>clearly show potential for concentrations of nocturnal migrants at
>altitudes and locations where wind turbines are being planned or
>erected.  And the large bird kill at the WV windplant is indeed
>evidence that wind turbines do pose a collision hazard for nocturnal
>migrants.
>
>Readers interested in seeing the distribution of communication towers
>in VA (or other states) should check the following website:
>http://www.towerkill.com and click on the state's outline on the map of
>the US.  Few communication towers are identified in Highland County
>whereas proposals exist for many hundreds of 400-foot tall wind
>turbines to be erected in this locale.
>
>Mr. Gray wishes to discount the importance of the 30 birds killed in
>one foggy night in late May 2003 at the WV windplant (all warblers and
>other neotropical migrants) - which comprised the largest wildlife
>mortality event ever recorded for a windplant anywhere in the world
>(until over 130 migratory bats were killed during a few days in August
>at the same industrial facility).  However, it's very important to
>recognize that the number of birds and bats found at the WV windplant
>reflect only the carcasses found during once-a-week inspections of 44
>wind turbines located in very rocky terrain that is difficult to
>search, particularly when looking for small birds or bats.  In
>addition, the detection of the large songbird kill at the the WV
>windplant was due to turbine maintenance workers who observed a bobcat
>feeding on the bird carcasses and reported this to the graduate
>students hired to document the avian mortality of this facility.
>
>So the number of bird carcasses found for the May mortality incident,
>and for this entire facility in 2003, would likely be only a small
>fraction of those that were actually killed.  Other bird mortality
>studies have documented that up to 80% of carcasses disappear within 24
>hours of hitting the ground.  If scavengers are removing carcasses
>rapidly, the ratio of number carcasses found to number actually killed
>could be 1:10 or possibly 1:100.
>
>Even if only 10-20 birds are killed on average at each turbine per
>year, this would add up to a major cumulative impact should the goal
>become reality that 20% of our region's electricity were generated by
>wind turbines.  For VA alone, the 20% goal would require over 4,000
>turbines to supply current demand - but that high number could double
>before 2025 to maintain this percentage since VA's demand for
>electricity is increasing at an annual rate of 3.1%.
>
>The real problem for wind energy advocates is to show how this
>alternative energy source can reduce future adverse impacts due to coal
>mining and combustion given that our society's profiligate demand for
>electricity will likely far outpace the production capability that wind
>energy could supply from the entire eastern half of the US.
>
>For bats, the situation appears far worse than for birds in terms of
>collision risk with wind turbines sited along Appalachian ridges.  The
>level of bat mortality from the 44 turbines at the WV facility is on
>par with the annual bird kill recorded from all 5,000+ turbines at
>Altamont.  Although 475 bat carcasses were found, the number likely
>killed was in the thousands to adequately reflect removals by scavenger
>and detection difficulties.  The per turbine rate of mortality for bats
>at the WV windplant is 100s of times greater than at Altamont, and a
>similar high rate of bat mortality was found at the only other
>windplant in the southeast (in the Cumberland Mountains of eastern TN).
>
>
>Contrary to Mr. Gray's claim, there is NO research currently ongoing to
>determine why bats collide with turbines - let alone research that
>examines how to prevent collisions.  Realistically it could take many
>years (if ever) to find an effective deterrent that prevents bats from
>colliding with wind turbines.  Yet the wind industry is pushing for
>siting of turbines with the promise of fixing the "problem" with bats
>in the future.
>
>Sadly, the avian mortality research at the WV windplant failed to
>follow established protocols, and although the results have not been
>officially released yet - they may greatly underestimate the actual
>mortality attributable to collision with wind turbines.  This research
>was funded by the wind energy developer, and overseen by the same
>consultant hired by the developer that predicted no significant impacts
>would result to avian wildlife.  Lets hope that future wildlife studies
>at wind energy facilities are performed by researchers that are
>objective and independent of financial ties to the developer.
>
>Dan Boone
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