Scott Reynolds, a bat consultant hired by Endless Energy to analyze the effect of the wind farm on the local population, estimated that 200 bats might be killed annually by the turbines. But the region around Equinox is a rich bat habitat, and that was not a large enough number to threaten the survival of bats in general, he said.
A related question is whether a disproportionately high number may be the nearby and endangered Indiana bat, he said.
Other experts presented data at the meeting on the dangers posed to migratory birds and rare and unusual plants and vegetation, but those threats were deemed relatively minor.
With so little firm data to go on, at some point the state will need to make its best determination on the basis of the information available, said Lee Krohn, Manchester’s planning director.
While the issue with the bats is significant, it also needed to be looked at from a big-picture standpoint, he said.
"We need to consider how many bats will be killed by the turbines, but we also need to consider how many are being killed by other environmental impacts," he said. "We’re killing trees all over Vermont because of fossil fuel consumption in the Midwest."
Contact Andrew McKeever at andrew.mckeever@rutlandherald.com
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