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Notice of Press Release from American Bird Conservancy
Last week we sent out a newsletter sharing concerns about wildlife related to the proposed siting of the Heritage Wind project in Barre. We’re not the only ones with concerns. A national birding organization, the American Bird Conservancy, put out a press release on April 27th.
The press release can be found at the following link:
https://abcbirds.org/article/new-york-fast-track-renewable-energy-regulation-paves-way-for-high-risk-wind-project/
It states in part:
A proposed wind energy facility in Orleans County, New York, is among the first projects proposed under the state's new renewable energy development law. This law ignores well-established best practices that would minimize impacts to birds, despite outcry from bird conservation organizations. Regulations to implement the law went into effect in March 2021, and developers are clamoring to shift to the streamlined permitting process.
“The Orleans County project is located in a major migratory pathway for birds, and adjacent to a high-biodiversity wetland complex that supports nesting Bald Eagles and many rare species,” says Joel Merriman, American Bird Conservancy's (ABC's) Bird-Smart Wind Energy Campaign Director. “The project poses a high risk to birds, but the state's new regulation may mean it's on a glide path to approval.”
“It's a bad place for wind turbines, plain and simple,” Merriman continues. “It's really unfortunate — this conflict could have been avoided, had the developer kept turbine locations away from this incredibly important area.” (bold added)
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