Dear birders, It is important to be concerned about birds, but it is also important not to over-react and kill off an incipient green economy. Altamont Pass was one of the first wind farms in the nation. While California is always the first to try new things, of course mistakes were made. The wind power industry relies on the goodwill of envronmentalists, so they have made huge efforts to reduce avian mortality. As a result, wind farms are no longer set up in major migratory pathways. Places like Hawk Ridge and the prairie pothole region of the Dakotas have great wind, but they will not develop wind farms there. Second, they have developed "perch-free" structures - solid columns instead of the cross-hatching that was on old models. Third, they are moving to larger structures. Some of this was mentioned by Richard but I think we should be aware that these problems have been addressed and mortality has been greatly reduced on the newer wind farms. The number of birds killed on wind farms is less than those killed by house cats, crashing into windows, being hit by cars. And don't forget, when the CDC examined birds supposedly killed by West Nile Virus in New York last year, the found (surprise!) that the greater majority of birds had been killed by anthropogenic pollution sources (pesticides, pollution, etc.).
At the MOU conference last Fall, Wally Erickson gave a talk on this subject. I found it extremely convincing. I don't want to belittle people's concerns as I too love birds, especially raptors (currently employed as a spotted owl researcher!), but we need to keep an eye on the big picture, too. If birders protest wind power too much, we are forced to rely on nuclear and coal sources, which in a larger sense probably harm more birds. Just my 2 cents, -Michelle Crozier Haynes _________________________________________________________________ Help protect your PC. Get a FREE computer virus scan online from McAfee. http://clinic.mcafee.com/clinic/ibuy/campaign.asp?cid=3963
