Final Proceedings

Agenda

Speaker Bios

Meeting Sponsors

Planning Committee


Wind Wildlife Research Meeting VII Presentations

I. Sector Updates

• Updates on non-research activities underway in the US

• Recently completed Oregon guidelines and the ongoing Washington guidelines update process; brief review of cumulative impacts research and related recommendations in appendix to the Oregon guidelines - Suzanne Leta Liou, Renewable Northwest Project

• Overview and update on American Wind Wildlife Institute - Ron Helinski, American Wind Wildlife Institute

• Update on US Fish & Wildlife Service's Wind Turbine Guidelines Federal Advisory Committee - Dave Stout, US Fish & Wildlife Service

• Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies activities and the status of wind in states - Celia Greenman, Colorado Division of Wildlife

• Western Governors Association wildlife initiatives associated with Western Renewable Energy Zones efforts - Carl Zichella, Sierra Club

II. Fatality Impacts to Birds & Bats

• Updating summaries of avian and bat mortalities from wind energy facilities - Wally Erickson, Western EcoSystem Technology, Inc.

• Big Horn Wind Power Project Fatality Monitoring Results, Comparison to Pre-Construction Avian Use Estimates and working with a TAC - Scott Downes, Northwest Wildlife Consultants, Inc.

• Estimating Avian & Bat Mortality and Identifying Spatial and Temporal distribution of avian and bat mortality at a utility-scale wind energy development - Amanda Miller, Tetra Tech

• Development of predictive models for estimating numbers of bird fatalities resulting from collisions with meteorological towers and wind turbines at wind energy developments - Jonathan Plissner, ABR, Inc

• Estimating Survey Effort Required for Precise Estimates of Bat Activity at a Wind Energy Facility in Southern California - Ted Weller, U.S. Forest Service

• Spatial Patterns of Nocturnal Bird Migration in the Central Appalachians - Deanna Dawson, U.S. Geological Survey

• Comparing the accuracy and precision of three different estimators of bird and bat fatality and examining the influence of searcher efficiency, average carcass persistence and search interval on these - Manuela Huso, Oregon State University

III. Cumulative Impacts and Impacts to Wildlife Habitat and Behavior

• Refining the Protocol for a Rapid Assessment Methodology for Wind Development, and Developing a Matrix/Key to Integrate Pre- and Post-construction Monitoring for Commercial Wind Projects Based on Risk - Al Manville, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

• The Influence of Ridge Top Habitat Manipulations on Bat Activity & Species Composition at a Proposed Wind Facility in South-Central Pennsylvania - Michael R. Schirmacher, Bat Conservation International

• Determining where, in eastern North America, there is the greatest potential for conflict between Golden Eagles and wind power development - Charles Maisonneuve, Ministère des Ressources naturelles et de la Faune; and Tricia Miller, Pennsylvania State University and Carnegie Museum of Natural History

• Displacement Effects of Wind Developments on Grassland Birds in the Northern Great Plains - Jill Shaffer, U.S. Geological Survey

• Prairie grouse display ground and nest distribution and population trends relative to wind generator complexes in northwestern Minnesota and the sandhills of Nebraska - John E. Toepfer, Society of Tympanuchus Cupido Pinnatus, Ltd.

• Impact of wind turbines on the migration of raptors in Baie-des Sables, Quebec - Michael Ross, McGill University

• Lesser Prairie-Chicken Conservation and Wind Development in the Texas Panhandle - Jon T. McRoberts, Texas Tech University

• Using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and available habitat data to evaluate the potential of a proposed wind power project area to serve as stop-over habitat for migrating cranes - Karl Kosciuch, Tetra Tech EC, Inc.

IV. Mitigation Techniques and Technology

• Minimizing Avian Collisions Via Strategic Use of Federal Aviation Administration Obstruction Lighting Systems - Joelle Gehring, Michigan State University

• Reducing Bat Fatalities at Wind Energy Facilities by Changing Turbine Cut-in Speed - Ed Arnett, Bat Conservation International

• Wildlife Mitigation Tools of Wind Power Generation Impact in Birds & Bat Collisions in Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Mexico - Rafael Villegas-Patraca, Institute of Ecology

• NEXRAD: A Resource for Evaluating Bird Migration; Using NEXRAD for Mapping Bird Migration Corridors to Mitigate Some Effects of Wind Energy Development - Manuel Suarez, U.S. Geological Survey and Richard Sojda, U.S. Geological Survey

Late-breaking Research

• Flight behavior of birds and bats approaching mountains in Vermont - Ron Larkin, Illinois Natural History Survey

Wind and Wildlife 101 Presentations

I. Wind Power’s Role in Fulfilling National Energy Needs

• 20% Wind Report - Laurie Jodziewicz, American Wind Energy Association

• Environmental Benefits of Wind Energy - Carl Zichella, Sierra Club

II. Siting Considerations - Karen Tyrell, BHE Environmental

III. Construction Processes - Aileen Giovanello, Tetra Tech

IV. How Wind Power Works - Rich Rayhill, Ridgeline Energy

V. Wind Energy and Wildlife Concerns

• Evolution of Knowledge and Understanding of Impacts; Activities and Policies Developed to Address those Impacts - Dale Strickland, WEST, Inc.

• Fatality Impacts to Birds & Bats (Collisions) - Dale Strickland, WEST, Inc.

• Cumulative Impacts and Impacts to Wildlife Habitat and Behavior - Jay Pruett, The Nature Conservancy