April 10, 2011
Idaho

What it says

A draft BLM analysis of the proposed China Mountain wind project notes the following possible effects:

• The proposed project site covers key habitat for the greater sage-grouse, a candidate species for federal protection and already suffering in the area due to massive wildfires and other threats. The construction process and finished turbines could cause a number of ill effects: causing grouse to avoid the area, interfering with breeding and nesting, creating more perches for predators, increasing the number of collision hazards for the birds, and further fragmenting their territory.

• The visual aesthetics of the ridge holding the turbines could be affected to various degrees, depending on where viewers observe it from. The turbines would likely stand out to people at Lud Drexler Park at Salmon Falls Creek Reservoir, for example.

• Turbine construction could also affect cultural resources, treaty rights or interests of American Indian tribes, and the ability to fight wildfires around the turbines, among other things.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/04/10/what-it-says/