As energy development escalates in Wyoming, the risks posed to raptor populations are of increasing concern to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. In support of a Federal mandate to protect trust species (i.e., all migratory birds, threatened and endangered species, interjurisdictional fish, marine mammals, and other species of concern, including raptors) and the wind energy industry’s need to find suitable sites on which to build wind farms, scientists at the USGS Fort Collins Science Center (FORT) and their partners are conducting research to help reduce deleterious impacts on raptor species from wind energy operations. Potential impacts include collision with the turbine blades as well as habitat disruption and disturbance from construction and operations. FORT scientists are developing a science-based tool that will provide industry and resource managers with the biological basis for decisions related to siting wind turbines while also conserving important habitats. A new science feature describes how USGS-CSU biologist, Jason Tack, and collaborators are building and applying this tool, using golden eagles in Wyoming as the initial test case.
U.S. Department of the Interior | U.S. Geological Survey
URL: http://www.fort.usgs.gov/news/Default.asp
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