Resource Library Category: Wildlife (150 items)
Documents presented here are not the product of nor are they necessarily endorsed by National Wind Watch. This resource library is provided to assist anyone wishing to research the issue of industrial wind power and the impacts of its development. The information should be evaluated by each reader to come to their own conclusions about the many areas of debate.
Construction in the Mojave Desert and Grassland
Source: Basin and Range Watch
November 14, 2011 – Photos of construction on large wind projects in the Mojave Desert and Tehachapi Mountains area, Kern County, California. Photos were taken over the period of 2010 to 2011. Photos are by Basin and Range Watch (where more photos are available) unless otherwise labeled.
Mojave Fragmentation
Friends of Mojave took these photos of industrialization of west Mojave ecosystems around the town of Mojave. This area has seen a boom in wind projects on the flat desert and slopes of the Tehachapi Range.
Large swaths of Joshua tree (Yucca brevifolia) woodland and creosote desert are destroyed on a wind project. (Photo: Friends of Mojave)
A pile of bulldozed and uprooted Joshua trees ten feet high to make way for wind turbines. (Photo: Friends of Mojave)
Fragmentation of a Mojave Desert ecosystem at the transition to the Tehachapi Range. (Photo: Friends of Mojave)
Deep hole and pad for cement foundation for a single turbine. (Photo: Friends of Mojave)
Dust clouds from construction. (Photo: Friends of Mojave)
Towers and crane. (Photo: Friends of Mojave)
Even when new, oil leaks out of a nacelle. (Photo: Friends of Mojave)
Mojave Desert scrub meets grassland of the Tehachapi Range, now divided up by roads everywhere. (Photo: Friends of Mojave)
Forest of industrial Wind Turbine Generators. (Photo: Friends of Mojave)
Friends of Mojave go to Bakersfield to protest the wind projects surrounding their town, asking supervisors to stop the industrialization. (Photo: Friends of Mojave)
Wind protest, October 2011. (Photo: Friends of Mojave)
(Photo: Friends of Mojave)
Joshua Tree Destruction
Wind project under construction: new roads and pads graded into the Mojave Desert on a an overcast winter day west of the town of Mojave.
New road and pad for a single wind turbine, in the middle of a Joshua tree woodland.
Powerlines feed off wind projects.
New roads in the desert must be wide to accommodate over-sized trucks.
Road grading on a wind project.
Single wind turbine pad 100 feet across.
Tehachapi Mountains Along the Pacific Crest Trail
Summer 2010, the Pacific Crest Trail through the Oak Creek area of Tehachapi Mountains. The trail stretches from Mexico to Canada, and dips into lower grassland, oak woodland, and Joshua tree desert in this part of southern California. In the distant upper right hills can be seen a new road and construction machinery for a wind turbine pad.
Trail sign at a trailhead.
View from the trail: Joshua trees, Gray pines (Pinus sabiniana), and a stream woodland with wind projects on the grasslands.
Wind projects encroach into wild grasslands full of wildflowers and rare plants.
Towers and crane in grassland.
The Tehachapi Mountains have abundant native bunchgrasses such as this Nodding needlegrass (Stipa cernua).
Enormous towers on pads cut into hill slopes.
Over-sized truck with tower piece must access the hills.
Roads and pads along ridge. The Pacific Crest Trail was diverted from this spot to go around the wind project.
Wind project construction on once wild ridge.
New pad and access road.
Native wildflowers bloom in summer here: Sapphire flower (Eriastrum eremicum).
Roads and wind turbine pads scar the mountain and disturb habitat. Pronghorn antelope (Antilocapra americana) have been seen in these grasslands.
Wind project from central yard. Trucks parked carry single turbine blades.
Construction.
Wide entrance road from the paved highway, into the wind project site.
New wide road over a creek, with pipe for the water, and willows torn out.
New turbines.
Tower sections in yard.
Yard and ongoing construction.
New road bulldozed into a desert grassland with junipers and Joshua trees.
Buried line in the hills.
Entrance to wind project access road.
Transport
The wind turbine parts are huge. Over-size trucks need to transport them on wide roads.
Part of a turbine tower, not the complete tower.
Lowell Mountain road and site building
Source: Vt. Department of Environmental Conservation
Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation photos from Nov. 10, 2011, by courtesy of Mountain Talk (more photos at source; click photos below to enlarge).
Sierra Club et al. v. Kern County
Source: Sierra Club et al.
SIERRA CLUB, CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY and DEFENDERS OF WILDLIFE (Petitioners and Plaintiffs will collectively be referred to as “Petitioners) petition this Court for a Writ of Mandate and Order under Code of Civil Procedure § 1094.5 and § 1085 and Public Resources Code §21168.5, directed to Respondents, COUNTY OF KERN and KERN COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS, (collectively “Respondent” or “County”), setting aside Respondents’ certification of a Final Environmental Impact Report (“EIR”) that was prepared in conjunction with various actions and ultimate approval of North Sky River and Jawbone Wind Energy Projects (“Project”). Petitioners also seek an order directing the County to set aside all project approvals, resolutions, ordinances and findings and not to reconsider the project until and unless a legally adequate EIR is prepared and certified consistent with the mandates of the California Environmental Quality Act, otherwise referred to as CEQA, Through this action, Petitioners also seek a judicial declaration indicating that the County’s certification of the EIR and approval of the Project was unlawful. …
Petitioners are collectively opposed to this particular wind energy project … because of its unacceptable and inadequately mitigated impact on an important avian migratory corridor, and sensitive and protected bat and avian species, including the majestic Golden eagle and the extremely rare California condor.
Download original document: “Sierra Club et al. v. Kern County”
Birds and Bird Habitat: What Are the Risks From Industrial Wind Turbine Exposure?
Source: Sprague, Terry; Harrington, M. Elizabeth; and Krogh, Carmen
Abstract: Bird kill rate and disruption of habitat has been reported when industrial wind turbines are introduced into migratory bird paths or other environments. The industrial wind energy industry and its proponents typically deny or assume mitigation will manage the potential risks to birds and habitat. While the literature could be more complete regarding the documentation of negative effects on birds and bird habitats during the planning, construction, and operation of wind power projects, there is sufficient evidence to raise concerns. Authoritative and mandatory vigilance monitoring and long-term surveillance over the life of the industrial wind facility are lacking. By the time the documentation of the rate of bird kills, including that of endangered species is available in an environs of an industrial wind turbine facility, the damage may be irreversible. This article briefly explores the negative environmental impacts of the siting of industrial wind turbines and associated infrastructure, including transformer stations and transmission lines, in proximity to migratory bird corridors, wetlands, and nesting grounds. Research is required prior to proceeding with further industrial wind development in these environs. The authors propose that there is sufficient scientific evidence to require invoking the precautionary principle and halting further development until these risks are resolved.
Bulletin of Science Technology & Society, published online 22 August 2011
