Hello all, I fully agree that wind energy is a big step in the right direction. However, this total of $100,000 to do a full survey is a bit interesting, especially given the money spent on surveys for this project to date might have totaled anywhere from $50-$500 --two 3 minute point counts at 20 points --that's 2 hours of field work. I don't think anyone would agree that that's adequate. Moderation and analysis is the key to most things, and it seems that perhaps spending $5000-$10,000 for a more adequate survey across seasons would be a bit more respectable. If BP was made to invest in the more expensive sure-thing blowout preventer, this mess in the gulf would have likely been avoided. For sure wind farms are less damaging to the environment than gas and oil exploration, but it's also important to take a step back and assess things critically from all angles. This project might simply be a winner, but rubber stamping it without an adequate survey would be wrong as well. I can think of many things that have been rubber stamped in the past 10 years --many that probably shouldn't have been.
cheers, Matt Original Message: ----------------- From: Jack Meyer [email protected] Date: Wed, 9 Jun 2010 15:36:23 -0400 To: [email protected] Subject: Fw: [nysbirds-l] Blockbusting Sorry, Matthew, I meant to reply to all. Jack Meyer ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jack Meyer" <[email protected]> To: "Voisine, Matthew NAN02" <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, June 09, 2010 3:00 PM Subject: Re: [nysbirds-l] Blockbusting > Matthew's post caused me to think a bit. If a wind turbine, or a whole > farm full of them, malfunctions, it will not coat birds, other wildlife, > and shorelines in oil. > Of course, one windfarm is not going to make much of a dent in our > dependance on oil, but it is a step in the right direction. > Jack Meyer > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Voisine, Matthew NAN02" <[email protected]> > To: "Bill Evans" <[email protected]>; <[email protected]>; > "cayugabirds" <[email protected]> > Sent: Wednesday, June 09, 2010 11:04 AM > Subject: RE: [nysbirds-l] Blockbusting > > > Hi all > > I had initially thought of replying just to Bill but decided to reply to > all. > > > I have NO vested interest in wind power or birds for that matter. I do > however believe that wind power presents an excellent opportunity to move > towards a more sustainable form of energy, and I have been researching > avian > behavior and birding for 15 years. > > Wind turbines kill a minute number of birds annually. The numbers are in > the > single digits per year per turbine. Compare those numbers to domestic > cats, > buildings, and towers, and you will see that concerning yourself with wind > turbine caused avian mortality is insignificant. As well as the fact that > to > build a building, radio, television, or cellular tower, or own a cat, you > do > not need to complete a $100,000's study of how they will affect birds. > > Just some food for thought. > > Below are just a few links to some peer-reviewed journal articles > concerning > avian interaction with wind turbines. > > http://www.outlierproductions.com/Resources/Barrios%20bird%20wind.pdf > > > http://www.jstor.org/stable/3082982 > > > http://www.jstor.org/stable/3784243 > > > http://pdfserve.informaworld.com/610790__909088697.pdf > > > Avian interactions with television towers, or buildings > > http://www.jstor.org/stable/4514603 > > http://www.birdsandbuildings.org/docs/WinStrikeMortalityTJO.pdf > > http://74.125.155.132/scholar?q=cache:SfGsZ-2oBKoJ:scholar.google.com/+avian + > mortality+building+strike&hl=en&as_sdt=20000000000 > > > Predation of birds by domestic cats > > http://up.picr.de/2379461.pdf > > http://md1.csa.com/partners/viewrecord.php?requester=gs&collection=ENV&recid = > 3596640&q=predation+of+birds+by+domestic+cat&uid=1090184&setcookie=yes > > > > Matthew Voisine > Wildlife Biologist > U.S. Army Corps of Engineers > Planning - Environmental Analysis Branch > 26 Federal Plaza - Rm 2151 > New York, New York 10278-0090 > Voice: 917.790.8718 > Fax: 212.264.0961 > > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Bill Evans > Sent: Tuesday, June 08, 2010 6:24 PM > To: [email protected]; cayugabirds > Subject: [nysbirds-l] Blockbusting > > Greetings birders, > > In the lull between NY breeding bird atlases, I thought some birders out > there might be interested in some mid-season blockbusting. In this case, > it's > not USGS blocks but the locale of a proposed wind energy project in > western > NY. > > The proposed Alabama Ledge wind farm, about 5 miles northwest of Batavia, > NY > would consist of up to 52 wind turbines and border the southern edges of > the > Iroqouis National Wildlife Refuge and the Oak Orchard Wildlife Management > Area. The Town of Alabama, NY is the lead agency and is currently weighing > the proposal and its draft environmental impact statement. The latter > included a breeding bird study in which the stated goal was: > > "locating and counting breeding resident birds within the areas proposed > for > development. The surveys were conducted in the first two weeks of June > based > on the regional timing recommended for USGS BBS in western New York (USGS > 2001)." > > Toward that end, a consultant hired by the wind project developer carried > out > two 3 minute point count surveys at 20 points within the wind project > area. > That is all the breeding bird survey planned to be conducted for this wind > project and it provides the formal record for consideration of breeding > birds > that might be potentially impacted by the project. To me that seems like a > grossly inadequate level of assessment, especially so for a wind project > proposed to be built in such close proximity to some of our precious > wildlife > refuges. For any wind project in New York (and beyond) it seems we should > have a detailed record of what was there prior to the wind project's > construction. > > I'm planning on heading over to the locality of the Alabama Ledge wind > project this Sunday to bird along the roadsides within the proposed wind > project area. I'd welcome coordinating with any similarly interested > birders > this Sunday and collating sightings from birders visiting the location > over > the next month. The goal would be to send the Town of Alabama, NYDEC and > USFWS a list of additional breeding species within the proposed wind > project > development, that were not detected in the developer's survey, which might > be > impacted by the wind project. > > A map of the project area along with the species detected by the > developer's > breeding bird study can be found at the following link: > > http://www.horizonwindfarms.com/northeast-region/documents/under-dev/alabama - > ledge/deis/Appendix%20F2%20Avian%20and%20Bat%20Studies.pdf > > Please email me offlist if you are interested in participating in this > "blockbusting" effort. > > Bill Evans > > > > > -- > > NYSbirds-L List Info: > http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME > http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES > > ARCHIVES: > 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html > 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html > 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L > > Please submit your observations to eBird: > http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ > > -- > > -- > > NYSbirds-L List Info: > http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME > http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES > > ARCHIVES: > 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html > 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html > 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L > > Please submit your observations to eBird: > http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ > > -- > > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- - --- > > > > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG - www.avg.com > Version: 9.0.829 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/2927 - Release Date: 06/09/10 > 02:35:00 > -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ -- -------------------------------------------------------------------- mail2web.com - Microsoft® Exchange solutions from a leading provider - http://link.mail2web.com/Business/Exchange -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
