Conservation and Science Committee Update
Members of our Conservation/Science Committee continue their determined advocacy for local birds and habitat.
Within the last month, Committee members have written three SBAS comment letters to local and federal agencies. Topics included re-zoning land for the state-mandated Housing Element Update, proposed development plans for Naples, and a detailed critique of the Strauss Wind Eagle Take Permit Draft NEPA Environmental Assessment. This last letter, to the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), required days of effort and is the latest SBAS attempt to win some concessions that could help protect eagles and other raptors from being killed by the wind farm’s giant turbine blades (which are spinning at speeds well over 100 miles per hour at the tips). The Strauss wind farm is in full operation even though the Environmental Assessment has not yet been approved. The draft Take Permit, the subject of our letter, would allow 15 eagles to be killed a year! That amounts to 450 golden eagles (a fully-protected species) killed over the 30-life of the wind farm.
Our long-time member (and ex-Chapter President) Steve Ferry has been our alternative energy expert for decades and we are so grateful that he continues to fight what seems at times to be a Sisyphean effort. If it wasn’t for Conservation Committee members like Steve, Strauss would not have implemented a number of bird-saving measures, including adequate spacing between electrical conductor lines, and installation of several IdentiFlight image sensing systems that may be able to curtail the turbine blades if an eagle is detected.
We are hopeful that USFWS (the federal agency that is supposed to support protected species such as golden eagles), will recognize that the proposed Take Permit is completely out of bounds with their mandate and will not allow the turbines to completely devastate our eagle population for decades.
If you would like to learn more about the incredible work of this committee, to attend their next meeting, or volunteer to help them protect our local birds and habitat, they would love to hear from you! Please contact Jessie Altstatt, the Conservation/Science Committee Chair.
