LOCATION/TYPE

NEWS HOME

[ exact phrase in "" • results by date ]

[ Google-powered • results by relevance ]


Archive
RSS

Add NWW headlines to your site (click here)

Get weekly updates

WHAT TO DO
when your community is targeted

RSS

RSS feeds and more

Keep Wind Watch online and independent!

Donate via Paypal

Donate via Stripe

Selected Documents

All Documents

Research Links

Alerts

Press Releases

FAQs

Campaign Material

Photos & Graphics

Videos

Allied Groups

Wind Watch is a registered educational charity, founded in 2005.

News Watch Home

Brownback expands area to keep out commercial wind farms 

Credit:  By Scott Rothschild, The Lawrence Journal-World, www2.ljworld.com 6 May 2011 ~~

Topeka – Gov. Sam Brownback on Friday announced a plan that he said would protect the tallgrass prairie by preventing further development of commercial wind farms in the Flint Hills.

Brownback said he has reached agreement with a coalition of ranchers, preservationists, wind developers, power companies and government officials to keep the area free of wind turbines.

The designated “Tallgrass Heartland” area covers nearly 11,000 square miles running from Riley and Pottawatomie counties in the north to the state’s southern border.

In 2004, then-Gov. Kathleen Sebelius issued a plan discouraging wind development in a portion of the Flint Hills. Brownback’s proposal doubles that area.

Brownback said his administration will work with wind developers to build in other parts of the state. And, he said, the “Tallgrass Heartland” designation will not prohibit construction of electric transmission lines. Wind farms currently under power purchase agreements within the protected area will continue, he said. “However, they will not be expanded,” he said.

The tallgrass prairie once covered 400,000 square miles of North America. Now, less than one percent remains with most of that in Kansas.

Designating the area as the “Tallgrass Heartland,” Brownback said would protect the eco-system and increase tourism.

Allan Pollom, state director of The Nature Conservancy, commended Brownback for “his thoughtful and balanced approach. He has reminded us all, as Kansans, of the honor we share as stewards of the last great stand of tallgrass prairie.”

Source:  By Scott Rothschild, The Lawrence Journal-World, www2.ljworld.com 6 May 2011

This article is the work of the source indicated. Any opinions expressed in it are not necessarily those of National Wind Watch.

The copyright of this article resides with the author or publisher indicated. As part of its noncommercial educational effort to present the environmental, social, scientific, and economic issues of large-scale wind power development to a global audience seeking such information, National Wind Watch endeavors to observe “fair use” as provided for in section 107 of U.S. Copyright Law and similar “fair dealing” provisions of the copyright laws of other nations. Send requests to excerpt, general inquiries, and comments via e-mail.

Wind Watch relies entirely
on User Funding
   Donate via Paypal
(via Paypal)
Donate via Stripe
(via Stripe)

Share:

e-mail X FB LI TG TG Share


News Watch Home

Get the Facts
CONTACT DONATE PRIVACY ABOUT SEARCH
© National Wind Watch, Inc.
Use of copyrighted material adheres to Fair Use.
"Wind Watch" is a registered trademark.

 Follow:

Wind Watch on X Wind Watch on Facebook

Wind Watch on Linked In Wind Watch on Mastodon