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Wind farm plan draws opposition
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LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Updated: Sep. 5, 2010 | 11:46 p.m.
Hunters and wildlife advocates are taking aim at plans to put 350 wind turbines on Lincoln County's picturesque Mount Wilson and nearby ridges that are home to mule deer, elk and sage grouse.
They fear noise and vibrations from the turbine blades whirling on 300-foot towers will disrupt deer and elk migration to summer fawning areas and devastate the breeding grounds, or "leks," of sage grouse.
"If you go in and put wind turbines on Mount Wilson, the sage grouse are gone," Lincoln County Wildlife Advisory Board Chairman Cory Lytle said Thursday at a Las Vegas sportsmen's gathering.
"Why put a wind farm there? It doesn't make sense," he said at the forum sponsored by the Coalition for Nevada's Wildlife, the National Wildlife Federation and the Desert-Las Vegas Chapter of Safari Club International.
The project proposed by Wilson Creek Wind Co., a subsidiary of Nevada Wind, calls for constructing the turbines in three phases on and near Mount Wilson, 20 miles northeast of Pioche and 110 miles northeast of Las Vegas. The project area includes Atlanta summit, White Rock and Table Mountain.
In an interview Friday, Nevada Wind Managing Partner Tim Carlson said he understands the concerns but that wildlife issues can be mitigated. Elk, for example, could be relocated to strengthen and improve herds in wilderness areas near the project.
A previous wind project Carlson had planned for a ridge at the Nevada Test Site, now called the Nevada National Security Site, was struck down because of Air Force concerns about turbines causing radar interference with warplanes on the Nellis training range. But the Department of Defense, he said, isn't bothered by the location of the Mount Wilson project.
"It becomes difficult to find the right location and please everybody," he said.
The economic benefits of clean, renewable energy need to be weighed, Carlson said. This project would create up to 400 construction jobs and 20 permanent jobs in addition to generating more than $1 million annually in tax revenues for Lincoln County.
But wildlife advocates wonder how the project will impact sage grouse, a Western game bird that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says warrants protection. The service this year decided not to list sage grouse as threatened or endangered because of other species that are closer to extinction.
In announcing the decision in March, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said making sage grouse a candidate species without a formal listing means that development of wind and solar farms can continue by locating them and transmission lines where sage grouse will be least affected.
"We need to find a way of protecting habitat but also develop much needed energy resources," Salazar said on March 5.
At the sportsmen's roundtable, Lytle said there are other places to build wind farms without having to scar the Wilson Creek range to build roads, transmission lines and substations. He also noted that the range has been designated by the Bureau of Land Management as "crucial" fawning grounds for mule deer and elk.
Michael McBeath, a member of the Nevada Board of Wildlife Commissioners, described the project area as "the crown jewel of Lincoln County." He said the wind farm, if built, would disrupt paths that deer and elk follow to reach food and water resources.
"When these projects start going in, they're going to impact migratory corridors," he said. "It's a matter of planning and making sure they go in with the least impact on wildlife."
Nevada Wind submitted project applications to the BLM in 2003 and renewed its right-of-way grant for the Wilson Creek and Table Mountain sites in 2007. The BLM expects to hold public meetings to field comments for an environmental impact statement in early 2011.
According to Lytle, many roads would have to be built through steep terrain, requiring removal of millions of tons of soil, to install and maintain turbines spread across 70 square miles.
Eric Petlock, field coordinator for the National Wildlife Federation, said Nevada's history shows that energy development has always been "one of the greatest threats to wildlife."
He noted that dams for hydroelectric power development led to the demise of salmon runs from the Pacific Ocean to tributaries of the Snake River. During the 1800s, salmon ran the Owyhee River in northeastern Nevada until diversion dams in Oregon and Idaho caused the runs to taper off after the turn of the century. Salmon swam in Nevada until the Owyhee Dam was constructed in 1932.
Petlock said he recognizes the need to develop domestic energy sources to reduce the nation's dependence on foreign oil. Yet, he said, "unfortunately there is no easy solution" to resolve conflicts between energy development and wildlife habitat.
Considering the magnitude of dozens of large-scale projects proposed for Nevada, "renewable energy could be stepping out of the frying pan into the fire," he said.
Contact reporter Keith Rogers at krogers@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0308.
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Everybody needs to do some do some internet research on this. Theses archaic turbines are mass killers. The Wind industry is counting on on your ignorance and apathy so they can steal your tax dollars.
We have the capability to produce all of our energy domestically. We need to use our own oil, natural gas, coal in combination with wind, sun, and NUCLEAR ENERGY. Keeping all of that money home would turn the economy around, and producing our own energy would make the Middle East as irrelevant as Africa, and help us to avoid getting entangled in that political and social sewer.
RickKorbel ya lots of people have an interest in the open lands in America. About 350 million of us! Let me guess? you and Walker and gbigs own stock in BP? Why on earth would ANYONE oppose a windmill? They produce power with no pollution-and they pay for themselves. This ain't political-Wyoming is so right-wing it makes Nevada look like France-it's the home of Simpson and Cheney and have 1000's of windmills. Hell, they tar and feather PITA and Sierra Club members there. Do any of you have a clue as to what you are posting about? Or just spewing the usual g. beck nonsense?
Comparing hydroelectric dams on rivers to windmills is completely asinine.
gbigs name your source too please. There are no harsher climates in the lower 48 than in Wyoming-and they have 1000's of windmills-AND it is a conservative state(home of Dick Cheney) And they have LOTS of coal.
"Renewable energy from wind turbines is really expensive and hard to maintain." name that source please.
I drive across Wyoming every month. They have 100's and 100's of windmills-giant windmills-and underneath them all, and all around them are 1000's of antelope and deer and elk. The big windmills spin much to slowly to be a threat to birds-I always see eagles in that state-in fact bird nest's ON the mills present a problem. What is wrong with you people? Do you really ENJOY the U.S. being dependent on the Middle East? There are windmills being put up in MOST of the states right now.(Ia,Ne,TX,WY,Ca,Or,Wa,and many more) They present little problem for wildlife-they don't pollute, and they pay for themselves. AND I think they look cool too.
Harry Reid already has millions. He doesn't need re-election, he needs retirement.
I HEAR REID HAS AN INTEREST IN OPEN LAND DESIGNATED FOR "RENEWABLE ENERGY". HOW MUCH IS HE GOING TO MAKE FROM HIS PUBLIC OFFICE?
WIND: Wind farms are highly subject to lightning strikes, have high mechanical fatigue failure, are limited in size by hub stress, do not function well, if at all, under conditions of heavy rain, icing conditions or very cold climates, and are noisy and cannot be insulated for sound reduction due to their size and subsequent loss of wind velocity and power.
And best of all? You only get power wind the wind blows. Everyone got batteries?