As the cost of oil climbs, people around the globe are looking to renewable sources of fuel.  Renewable sources of energy – solar, wind or water movement – seem to hold the answer. Wind power is especially intriguing to many – a seemingly limitless source of clean energy.

All across the United States, wind farms are springing up, with plans for many more on the drawing board. The Great Lakes Region has the capacity for providing a major portion of the nation’s energy derived from wind. For example, according to the American Wind Energy Association, Illinois ranked third behind Texas and Colorado for new wind-energy installations in 2007. The state added 592 megawatts of new wind-power generation. Wind power could equal good business: the Department of Energy estimates the Great Lakes area’s wind capacity has the potential to produce $80 billion in economic activity and 300,000 jobs.

With those numbers, it’s easy to see why wind power is a high-stakes game involving myriad interests and a large number of stakeholders. The Fish and Wildlife Service acknowledges the value of exploring and developing sustainable energy sources, including wind. At the same time, the Service must consider the impacts of wind turbines on trust resources, including migratory birds and some species of bats. Because many wind-turbine sites lie along migratory routes, turbines can individually and cumulatively kill large numbers of birds and bats.

The Service’s traditional approach to reviewing potential energy projects is case by case. This is often time-consuming, laborious, and contentious, as all stakeholders vie for their interests. Furthermore, a project-by-project approach misses the landscape context. Scattering multiple projects across the landscape creates a matrix of projects through which migratory birds and bats must pass. Reviewing projects is even more challenging because no single entity regulates the siting, construction and operation of all projects consistently across the country. That’s why the Service’s Midwest Region took initiative to help establish the Great Lakes Wind Collaborative.

“The Great Lakes Wind Collaborative offers a unique forum for wind-power stakeholders to better understand each others’ interests,” said Bob Krska, Region 3’s Ecological Services Division chief for Conservation Planning Assistance. “This forum is critical to developing sustainable wind energy in the Great Lakes states and provinces. It will allow us to explore ways to facilitate wind-energy development while, at the same time, doing it in ways that are compatible with migratory birds, bats, and other fish and wildlife resources. By focusing at the regional level, we work through problems and solutions locally, thereby allowing all stakeholders to meet most of their priority needs.”

The collaborative came together after wind-power stakeholders met at the conference “Toward Wildlife-friendly Wind Power: A Focus on the Great Lakes Basin” in 2006. The Service led a followup Great Lakes wind-power workshop at the State of the Lakes Ecosystem Conference that same year. These two venues brought together a range of interests and highlighted the need for a forum in which stakeholders could freely discuss concerns and ideas.  In 2007, the Service established the Great Lakes Wind Collaborative. The Great Lakes Commission coordinates administratively supports the group.

While other groups are examining national wind-power issues, what sets the Great Lakes Wind Collaborative apart is its specific focus on the Great Lakes Region. Members of the collaborative represent a cross-section of all wind-power stakeholder groups from the eight states and two Canadian provinces that surround the Great Lakes.  They are tackling challenges that are unique to the wildlife resources, geography and demography of the region. This allows the group to consider the entire region holistically to identify opportunities and impacts.

The collaborative functions through steering and advisory committees and work groups. Region 3 participates on both the Advisory and Steering Committees, and Service biologists participate on several of the work groups.

When the collaborative held its first meeting in May 2008, it generated interest from a broad group of stakeholders. The meeting comprised 120 policymakers, wind-industry professionals, government-agency representatives, utilities and municipalities, along with conservation groups. Participants included Region 3’s Jeff Gosse, who presented information on potential wind facility interaction with wildlife.  Many attendees visited “Steel Winds,” once a Bethlehem steel plant and now the nation’s largest urban-wind farm.

At the end of the two-day session, participants had laid the groundwork for working groups to explore issues the following issues:

• A   regional wind atlas
• A   regional approach to planning, siting and permitting wind project
• The   potential for the collaboration to serve as a clearing house for Great Lakes studies and wind information
• Cumulative   environmental impacts
• Economic   costs and benefits of wind
• Issues   related to offshore siting of wind projects.

For more information, check out the Great Lakes Wind Collaborative Web site at http://www.glc.org/energy/wind/