|
|
|
Bedford Audubon Society The Bedford Audubon Society strongly supports properly-sited wind power as a clean alternative energy source that reduces the threat of global warming. Proper siting is critical because wind turbines have the potential to be as lethal to birds as communication towers—which now kill an estimated 5 million to 50 million birds a year. Wind turbines must be sited in such a way as to minimize the impact on birds from direct collisions with turbines, guy wires and power lines. Wind power facilities should also be sited in such a way as to prevent the degradation or destruction of habitat and to prevent the disturbance, displacement or disruption of important ecological links. Proper planning can greatly reduce bird mortality at towers with relatively little effort. Bird mortality can be reduced by as much as ninety percent by implementing simple conservation measures such as avoiding the use of guy wires and carefully considering the location of towers with regard to migratory flyways and other bird concentration areas. Audubon recommends that wind power not be allowed in the following areas: Important Bird Areas, major migratory corridors, areas where birds are highly concentrated during migrations, sites in habitats known to be important to county, state, and federally listed bird species, Bird Conservation Areas, parks, wildlife refuges, and other sensitive habitat such as wetlands and riparian corridors. We also recommend that adequate mitigation and regular monitoring be required along with contingencies if impacts on wildlife or habitat significantly exceed levels allowed by the permitting authority. To accomplish this we recommend that comprehensive avian surveys be done at proposed wind turbine sites such as Hilltop Farm prior to site development and that such surveys also include both field and radar surveys during the breeding, migrating, and wintering seasons, allowing for adequate observation sample sizes, and ideally surveying for more than one year. Bedford Audubon stands ready to assist with these avian surveys. Jim Nordgren e-mail
conservation@bedfordaudubon.org |
