Is Wind Energy Good
For Greenheads?
Is it really "great for the environment " if it's bad news for fowl? By Joe Genzel
areas where turbines have become
prevalent—what they think of this
renewable resource.
There are all kinds of statistics avail-
able on the number of birds (not just
waterfowl) killed by wind turbines
each year. Estimates span the spec-trum from 100,000 into the millions.
There’s no possible way to deter-
mine how many ducks or geese, or
meadowlarks for the that matter, die
due to turbine strikes. And the tur-
bine companies don’t release much,
if any, information on this issue.AS DUCK HUNTERS we know,
and are constantly concerned about,
weather, habitat, spring hatches,
pond counts—basically anything
that could derail the health of the
birds we love to pursue.
Unlike whitetails or big game, our
quarry migrate up and down four fly-
ways, traversing thousands of miles
and inhabiting innumerable wetlands
along their journey.
This makes them vulnerable,
with plenty of ways for doom and
gloom to creep in. Nesting and
wintering grounds are in jeopardy
each season. Wetlands are drained
for farming, siltatation damages
rivers, CRP acreage shrinks. From
2004-09, 45,000 acres of wetlands
were lost per year, according to
Ducks Unlimited, much of it in
the Prairie Pothole Region—vital
to duck mortality. But thanks to
mostly wet springs, the last decade
has produced record numbers of
waterfowl.
But there are other man-made vari-
ables that may be impacting ducks,
wind energy being among them.
Wind farms, which are popping up all
over the U.S. and Canada, are alter-
ing flight corridors and waterfowl
habitat. To what extent, we don’t yetknow. The footprint of wind turbines
continues to grow (wind may supply
20 percent of the world’s energy by
2030). So, we asked some of the fore-
most authorities on wind energy’s
effects on animal species—and hunt-
ers who have pursued waterfowl in © Drew Palmer“I had access to fields andREPORT
Conservation Corner