[va-richmond-general] CRISIS IN HIGHLAND COUNTY
- From: Heron329@xxxxxxx
- To: va-richmond-general@xxxxxxxxxxxxx, va-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx,AAASlate@xxxxxxx, mvs4@xxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 18 Aug 2002 20:49:09 EDT
Fellow birders,
We have a potential disaster coming to Highland County. There was a long
article this week in The Recorder, Highland's newspaper, that an energy
company wants to put wind farms along the ridges in Highland County. They
are negotiating with the Board of Supervisors for approval of this project,
and have said that there are at least 50 miles of suitable ridge line in the
county.
Bearing in mind that there are Golden Eagles residing year round in Highland
County, (I have seen two together many times this summer) as well as Bald
Eagles and many other raptors, here is a quote from the article:
"Carter {representative of the energy company} said an avian study is
completed on an area before each farm is constructed. ' We found it's not the
migratory birds or the song birds that are impacted but the raptor birds that
are coming down fast for the kill, ' he said."
Obviously language designed to appeal to the ignorant who still think raptors
don't deserve to live. I dare say that "raptor birds" that are flying along
minding their own business would be killed, too, given that there are planned
to be 12 or 13 of these farms, each with a minimum of 20 turbines, each with
the hub 150 feet from the ground, and with a blade 112 feet long. According
to the article, each blade has a sweep area of 42,000 square feet. Let's
see, 12 times 20 is 240, 240 times 42,000 is a very big number. In addition
to the eagles, I can foresee minced up ravens, hawks of many species,
swallows and bobolinks, and despite what he says, many many other species of
both resident and migrating songbirds.
Another item of interest in the article is that the sound from the turning
blades is not bad AS LONG AS YOU STAY INSIDE. Just what I go to Highland
County for, to stay inside.
I am presently at work on a letter to the editor of The Recorder. I plan to
call every member of the Board of Supervisors, the Chamber of Commerce, the
owners of the Highland Inn, and every other person I know in Highland County.
I did talk with one native of Highland County, and he was all for it. A
sheep farmer, he thought killing off the eagles with the turbines was a fine
idea. I am really frightened, folks.
I know many of you go to Highland County each year. I hope that we can fight
this thing, and keep these bird cuisnarts from atop the mountain ridges of
Highland County. Otherwise, the only sounds you will hear in a Highland
County spring will be the whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, of the wind farms.
My husband suggested that some of you might have access to some data about
the numbers of birds killed by these things. I need all the assistance I can
get. I know many of you have been to my farm along the Virginia/West
Virginia line. I am begging for your help. If anyone has any ideas, please
let me know. I can be reached by email at heron329@xxxxxxx, my phone number
is 804-746-5599, my fax number is 804-746-5128.
The address for The Recorder is P O Box 10, Monterey, VA 24465, or you can
fax them at 540-468-2048. Letters must be signed, with a phone number where
the writer can be reached for verification.
I guess this is not really a bird sighting posting, so to make it legal, I
will add that there was a successful fledging of one, possibly two, shrike
chicks from a nest just outside of Blue Grass this summer.
Margaret O'Bryan
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