April 7, 2015
Texas

Local rancher against wind farm near his property

By Gabriella Hernandez, Brownwood Bureau Reporter | KTXS | Apr 06 2015 | www.ktxs.com

MAY, Texas – With wind farms being built closer and closer to Brown County those opposed are stepping forward.

Rancher Paul Burns and his family have owned their ranch for over 140 years. Seven years ago he was approached and asked for his land to be used for wind turbines.

“I spent two years studying and going to international conferences to see if it was financially the right thing to do for our family and after studying it I realized that it was financially a disaster for our family,” said Paul.

Recently, construction has started on 87 wind turbines going up in Comanche County. So what are the pros for these wind farms?

“It will be a economic benefit to the county through taxes and school taxes, in other projects that I’ve been on the the communities have benefited by new schools and new computer systems within that school district so it is a wealth of income to the counties that they’re installed in,” said Construction Site Manager, Steve Miller.

But both Paul and his brother Pierce do not agree.

“For our neighbors that do not get a tower but get the value of their land decreased if they have a $100,000 house on a piece of land on the day the wind farm goes up their house is worth $50,000,” said Paul.

“It would hurt a lot of the good people in Brown County if this happens and we just think about it everyday and we work on it everyday to do our best to keep it from happening,” said Pierce.

The Burns have since formed a group called ‘Won’t Feel Like Home’ with over 50 members from the area protesting the wind farms. For more information on this group you can visit their website here.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2015/04/07/local-rancher-against-wind-farm-near-his-property/