March 17, 2021
Texas

North Texas Heritage Association to hold rally against potential wind turbine industrial complex

By Zach Verdea | KFDX/KJTL | Mar 16, 2021 | www.texomashomepage.com

Wind turbines are hard to miss, whether they are far away or close up, sometimes you just can’t avoid them.

And that’s what a group of about 650 landowners and partners, who own more than 450,000 acres of land throughout Jack, Montague, and Clay counties are trying to prevent.

“The economic devastation that it makes to the neighbors is just fundamentally un-Texan to do,” landowner and North Texas Heritage Association member Bryon Barton said.

The NTHA continues their fight against these potential 650 foot turbines, taller than any building in downtown Ft. Worth, and hope an upcoming rally can band more of them together in this fight.

“The value that you lose from the loss of property value in the long haul is going to exceed anything from that mistaken notion that there’s free money,” land owner and North Texas Heritage Association member Roby Christie said.

Barton, Christie and Teri Gitchell all own land in the areas that would be affected by these new turbines stretching all across northern Jack County.

“We’ve been there for 50 years, we retired there, built our dream home, and I have, obviously I’m very connected to the land and want to make sure we are good stewards of the land,” Gitchell said.

They’re concerned not only about the economic impact and the negative effects on property value, but on wildlife too.

The whooping crane, an endangered bird with just about 500 left, migrate right through this area from the Gulf Coast.

“Literally through this area here, well these turbines are devastating to them,” Barton said. “If we kill one pair of whooping cranes this season, we seriously jeopardize the genetic diversity of the spices.”

But these companies can move-in with tax abatements and incentives, making the state appealing for turbines.

While Christie hopes their cause keeps growing, and the county takes notice.

“A lot of our emphasis is to encourage the Jack County commissioner court to not provide those incentives,” Christie said.

They don’t want to end up funding these turbines through taxes, so they hope people realize what could be.

“Two-and-a-half percent of the population here gets all the benefit, and the remaining 97-and-a-half percent pay the price for it,” Barton said.

More information on the rally in Jacksboro below:

–When: Thursday, March 18th from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

–Where: Twin Lakes Community Activity Center located at 1114 SH 59, Jacksboro, TX 76458

–Contact info: Roby Christie, RSVP at roby@hh100.org or text (940) 781-8547

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2021/03/17/north-texas-heritage-association-to-hold-rally-against-potential-wind-turbine-industrial-complex/