In December, the El Paso County Board of County Commissioners approved a new wind farm slated for Calhan, Colo. Wind farms have been purported as a viable alternative energy source, but they are not without controversy; and one issue involves the turbinesí impact on wildlife.The Calhan wind farm developer, Golden West Power Partners, has completed a wildlife study, which they cited in their presentation to the commissioners. The studies have not been released to the public, but Colorado Parks and Wildlife is satisfied with the plans Golden West has in place to mitigate harm to wildlife.In a September letter to Golden West, CPW stated, ìFrom CPW’s perspective, Golden West has followed up with our recommendations to survey, avoid, and minimize wildlife impacts. It is our opinion that the company has also followed the checklist of recommendations outlined in Colorado PUC Rule 3668 ñ Environmental Impacts.î The letter also indicated that Golden West has committed to conducting post-construction surveys on monitoring wildlife fatalities.ìWe’ve had a very good relationship with the company so far,î said Abbie Walls, public information officer for the southeast region of CPW.Several animals live on the plains of Colorado, one of which is the Bald Eagle, protected by federal law. According to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bald Eagle is protected under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, even though it was removed from the Endangered Species Act list in 2007. The law states it is illegal to ìtakeî the birds, except by permit. ì’Takeî includes pursue, shoot, shoot at, poison, wound, kill, capture, trap, collect, molest, or disturb.î The National Congress of American Indians met with the White House in May 2013 to discuss the ìtakeî rules as applied to eagles, which are considered spiritually significant to many tribes.The Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act states that ìbald eagles may not be taken for any purpose unless, prior to such taking, a permit to do so is procured from the Secretary of the Interior.îIn 2013, the Obama Administration was forced to take action when wind farms, managed by a subsidiary of Duke Energy, in Wyoming were responsible for the deaths of 160 birds between 2009 and 2013, according to an article, ìObama Administration: Finally taking action on bird deaths at wind farms,î in the Daily Caller last November. The energy company agreed to pay fines imposed by the government.Birds are not the only species affected by turbines on wind farms. And not all animals are negatively affected.The pronghorn antelope is a familiar sight to the eastern plains residents. According to the website pronghornpride.com, ìThe antelope donít seem to mind the presence of the turbines.î The pronghorns sleep in the shade provided by the turbines and graze nearby.The Lesser Prairie Chicken, though not so common in Calhan, is listed in Colorado as a threatened species as of 1973. The numbers of the chickens have declined since the 1990s, according to the FWS. In an interview on FOX News in January, Jay Lininger, an ecologist for the Center for Biological Diversity, reported on the effects of wind farms on prairie chickens.ìThe wind turbines and the power lines that are associated with them can have a footprint that the chickens avoid for up to a mile, so there’s a potential conflict there.î He said, with the species on the endangered list, wind farms have the opportunity to be placed ìintelligently, so that wildlife conservation and energy development can co-exist.î Lininger said current wind farms won’t be moved to accommodate the chickens, but the endangered listing is important to the chicken species with regard to future wind farm developments.The effect of wind turbines on the bat population has been well-documented. Bats are an important part of the ecosystem ñ they control the bug population and pollinate certain crops, among other things.Biologist Mark Hayes said more than 600,000 bats were killed by turbines in 2012, according to a Nov. 11 CBS article by Danielle Elliot. Cris Hein, Wind Energy Program Coordinator with Bat Conservation International, said Hayes’ study ìwas based on a very limited dataset, so it’s not very representative of the entire country.î Hein referenced a different study by conservationists Ed Arnett and Erin Baerwald, which estimated between 196,190 and 395,886 bats were killed in 2012. Hein said this estimate is closer to reality. ìRegardless of actual number, clearly hundreds of thousands of bats are being killed each year by wind energy development,î Hein said. ìUnfortunately, we have no idea what the population level impact on bats is.îThe wind farm on the plains of Calhan might not be as harmful to bats as wind farms located closer to the mountains. The Baerwald and Barkley study showed a higher activity of bats near the Rock Mountains than farther east. On the plains there is a lack of a roosting site, as opposed to heavily treed areas.Local bat expert Dave Betts said it is unlikely that bats will be largely affected by the new wind farm. He also reiterated that windy areas on the plains don’t support a bat population as readily as the more forested areas closer to the Front Range. ìMost of the bat population is in the trees rather than in the desert,î he said. ìMore trees equal more bugs.îAl Trujillo from Colorado Parks and Wildlife said the loss of any animals is significant, especially to species with low breeding rates such as bats and raptors. Trujillo said that since wind farms in eastern Colorado are a relatively new landscape phenomenon, they don’t have enough information to assess and assign a level of significance to the losses.The Limon wind farms to date have had a low overall fatality rate, he said. ìThe overall fatality rate for birds is estimated to be 4.33 birds per turbine per year, and 0.90 bats per turbine per year.ìEssentially, because CPW is non-regulatory for energy development, our position is one of seeing a balance protecting a developer’s right to develop and protection of wildlife and wildlife habitats. This applies to wind farms, as well as oil and gas development.î
