Turning Away From The Eagle’s Shadow
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 01.18.07
From, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette :- Not content with learning about avian mortality after wind farm installation, a point at which it's basically too late to do much about it, researchers have turned the tables on wind turbine risk, tracking raptor migration routes to map out places that wind turbines should be excluded. We’ve written at length about the common “eco-myth” about bird kills associated with wind farms. Yet we certainly acknowledge that there are key habitats and passages where turbines do not belong. We think it’s great that “The goal of the aviary study…is to produce maps that land managers, government regulators and the wind power industry will use to guide wind power development and turbine placement throughout the northeast. Golden eagles were selected for study because they are an "umbrella species," that migrate along routes shared by other raptors.”
USB powered LED Lights My QWERTY: Goodbye CFL.
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Interestingly, the local (Pittsburgh) conservative newspaper (tribune review) covered this a week ago, although it was spun as something like "democrat environmentalists hate golden eagles, liberty." Alright, actually "Golden eagles, wind farms on collision course" was the headline on the front page.
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/cityregion/s_488044.html
This is a follow up to my previous commen. The link to will take you to a image showing the eagle's release point, common migration path and the location of the proposed wind turbine installation.
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y254/ssk77077/eaglepath.jpg
google maps link to the location:
http://www.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=buckstown,+pa&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=44.744674,79.013672&ie=UTF8&z=13&ll=40.07262,-78.737383&spn=0.084859,0.154324&t=h&om=1
there is an easy enough fix for this. a simple controller and an array of oleds set into the blades could be used to create a persistance of vision effect. the blades would no longer be invisible but would rather seem to be a large disc. the light space could then be used for art installations or, ugh, advertising. cheap and available technology reapplied could save some feathers.
I placed two comments in here yesterday while not logged in and they have not appeared yet.
Anyway, the eagle release site is very close to a proposed turbine project. I grew up in the area and know the land owner for the site. I seems to me that the migratory path and the turbine location while close will not cause much conflict for raptors. The turbines will be placed slightly west of the ridgeline while the raptors tend to migrate through to the east of the ridge where the air wells up as it hits the upslope.
Map with locations noted:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y254/ssk77077/eaglepath.jpg
I placed two comments in here yesterday while not logged in and they have not appeared yet.
Anyway, the eagle release site is very close to a proposed turbine project. I grew up in the area and know the land owner for the site. I seems to me that the migratory path and the turbine location while close will not cause much conflict for raptors. The turbines will be placed slightly west of the ridgeline while the raptors tend to migrate through to the east of the ridge where the air wells up as it hits the upslope.
Map with locations noted:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y254/ssk77077/eaglepath.jpg