[BCNnet] Wind Turbines possible for Horicon area

[Randi Doeker - Chicago]

Forwarded by Randi Doeker

>From the email newsletter distributed by Swarovski

 

 

 

THE HORICON MARSH WIND-POWER SITUATION

 

On another power issue, Americans will increasingly be faced with the option of wind-power,
especially as the price of electricity generated by wind-turbines decreases and the spread of
wind-farms increases. The growth of wind-power is potentially very beneficial since clean,
renewable, energy is both attractive and desirable, especially in light of our ongoing dependence
on troublesome fossil fuels. Unfortunately, much remains unknown about the impact of wind-power on
wildlife, especially birds.

 

 A proposed wind energy generating facility in Wisconsin has especially drawn recent notice. This
proposal entails 133 wind turbines located in a project area of 32,400 acres near Brownsville, in
Dodge and Fond du Lac Counties. Horicon National Wildlife Refuge is located approximately 1.2 miles
west of the project area boundary, and the entire system - both the refuge and the adjacent
state-managed Horicon Marsh State Wildlife Area - has been designated as a Ramsar Wetland of
International Importance and deserves special conservation attention.

 

While the initial proposal by Forward Energy called for the location of wind-power units to be
approximately 4 miles from the refuge, the plan then doubled the number of proposed turbines and
would locate them closer - within 1.2 miles. Such a shift could potentially increase wildlife
impacts. 

 

In a 1999 study done for the Wisconsin DNR, it was stated that bird activity is much reduced at
distances of 8 kilometers (approximately 5

miles) of the edge of Horicon Marsh, and that the placement of "generators at distances 8km or
greater will have significantly lower impacts than generators closer to the marsh." Unfortunately,
the most current proposed turbine placement by Forward runs counter to this recommendation.

 

While the total elimination of avian mortality is impossible even under the best of circumstances,
concern for some species is particularly troubling.

For example, Sandhill Cranes at Horicon not only use the marsh itself, but also surrounding
farmland for feeding and assembling. Concern for this operating buffer is vital since hundreds of
Sandhill Cranes use some of the same fields in the fall where turbines are now planned. It is
unknown how the cranes will adjust, if at all.

 

At the end of April, a three-mile-radius turbine ban was barely approved by the Dodge County
Planning, Development, and Parks Committee, but the state Public Service Commission could override
the county committee's decision.

 

The Horicon scene may prove to be an important case in determining future guidelines for the siting
of wind farms - and what should be clearly avoided - in the area of wind-power proximity to
refuges. The whole issue merits continued and watchful scrutiny.

 

For more information see:http://www.wisinfo.com/thereporter/news/archive/local_20794531.shtml

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://screamer.ece.iit.edu/pipermail/bcnnet/attachments/20050512/096abe40/attachment.htm