Take It From a Retired Wildlife Biologist -- Wind Turbines and 007: License to Kill

Update

From MDU message board, don't listen to me, listen to a retired wildlife biologist -- pretty sad --

Just some of my thoughts re wind farms. First, be advised that I am a retired wildlife biologist with 35 years professional experience and even though I have been away from the field for many years the principles have not changed. Many hundreds of thousands of birds will be killed flying into the paths of blades. Especially during migration periods. Evolution has not provided behavioral modification to protect birds from 100 MPH blade tips any more than 70 MPH vehicles. Many or even most of the bird strikes will go undetected and/or unreported since predators and scavengers will clean up the mess and we will not know the full impacts unless specific long term studies are completed. I doubt there will ever be any modifications or limitations or prohibitions imposed upon the industry.

Original Post

The whooping cranes are passing through North Dakota on their migration south. Many of them will end up just south of where I live in San Antonio, Texas. My wife and I have gone out to see them on several occasions. Quite magnificent.

This is the quote from Mike Szymanski, waterfowl biologist for the North Dakota Game and Fish Department:

When disturbed, Szymanski said they [whooping cranes, not biologists] can risk injury or death from power lines, barbed wired fences or other obstructions.

I'm not exactly sure what he meant by "when disturbed." But it is interesting that he left out the most contentious issue at the moment regarding whooping cranes and other migratory birds: wind turbines. I guess wind turbines fall under the category of "other obstructions."

He did note:

Szymanski said hunters and others can confuse whooping cranes with pelicans, swans or egrets and its a violation to disturb whooping cranes.

The US Fish and Wildlife Service has applied for an exemption to allow wind turbines to kill whooping cranes:

Back in July, 2011, Reuters reported that the Obama administration is working on a plan that will permit wind developers to kill endangered whooping cranes who fly in the path of the turbine blades.

The formal language of the Administration is less pointed but the impact the same.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service intends to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on a proposed application for an Incidental Take Permit (ITP) issued under Section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act).

If approved, wind developers will be permitted to 'take' an unspecified number of endangered species including the whooping crane. 'Take' under the Endangered Species Act, is defined as the injuring or killing of endangered species. 

I don't know where this application stands. 

By the way, if you are in the Corpus Christi, Texas, area this winter, you should take time to visit the whooping cranes. These are our favorite tour guides: Rockport Birding and Kayak Adventures. Captain Tommy Moore uses very small boats, and gets very, very close to the whooping cranes as well as scores of other species. I believe my wife cataloged 125 different species when she last went out. The birds are very used to these small, unobtrusive boats and continue to feed, almost no matter how close we get. You are guaranteed to see whooping cranes. In addition, there is a very good chance you will see some dolphins in the gulf on the way out to the birding sites.