Eagles and Wind Turbines

I love bald eagles and my heart soars whenever I am privileged to see one. I believe they are one of God’s most majestic creatures, and am not surprised they have come to be a symbol of our country.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says about 40 years ago eagles were near extinction due to habitat destruction, illegal shooting, and contamination of their food source by the pesticide DDT. Habitat protection afforded by the Endangered Species Act, the federal government’s banning of DDT, and conservation actions taken by the American public have helped bald eagles make a remarkable recovery.

The Altamont Pass Wind Farms were established about 35 years ago. They are still one of the largest, densest collections of wind turbines in the world, though their number has decreased from 7,900 to 4,000 even as their productivity has increased due to improved technology. The old turbines were much smaller, spaced more closely together, and rotated at a much higher speed than the new ones. New turbines produce 23 times as much electricity as the old ones.

Unfortunately, Altamont Pass Wind Farms has represented the worst of the colliding worlds of eagles and wind turbines. An eagle flying 75-100 mph in pursuit of prey pays little attention to turbine blades. Although these blades appear to turn very slowly, the midpoint of the blade is often turning at 45 mph and the tip at 180 mph. Collisions happen and they are often deadly.

Exactly how many eagles are killed by wind turbines is uncertain. Reliable numbers are difficult to obtain because turbines are generally located in remote areas, searches are usually limited to within 200 feet of the turbine, and predators often carry away the remains in the 30-90 day intervals between counts.

Save the Eagles International quotes ornithologist Shawn Smallwood as saying in a 2004 report that an estimated average of 116 golden eagles were killed at Altamont in the previous four years. A government study by the Altameda County Community Development Agency, however, documented an average of 15 golden eagle deaths at Altamont in a nine-year period from 2005-2013.

A study by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service published in the September 2013 Journal of Raptor Research listed 85 total eagle deaths from wind turbines in areas other than Altamont between 1997 and 2012. The breakdown by states for this 15-year period is as follows: Wyoming (29), California (27), Oregon (6), Washington (5), Colorado (5), and New Mexico (5).

Eagles have been protected since the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act became law in 1940. This law prohibits the “taking” of eagles through any means, but allows for permits to be issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service where “non-purposeful” or “incidental” taking of eagles is involved. This would include wind turbines as well as highways, buildings, power lines, airports, ski lifts and other developments in eagle habitat areas.

These protections (and the banning of DDT) under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have led to a remarkable recovery for eagles from near extinction in the 1970s to an estimated population today of 143,000 bald eagles and 40,000 golden eagles. In 2007 bald and golden eagles were removed from the list of threatened and endangered species.

This is not to say eagle populations face no threats. The number of requests for Incidental Take Permits has increased due primarily to interest in establishing more wind turbine farms. (The reasons and justifications for this increase are multiple and open to debate.) This proposed expansion led the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to reconsider its policies and determine at what point eagle deaths would threaten the stability of the population.

Their study, completed in 2013, used computer modeling to evaluate likely outcomes. Relying on median data indicated up to 6,300 deaths of bald eagles and 2,100 golden eagles would not diminish the population. Using a 20^th quantile data set gave a more conservative estimate of up to 4,200 deaths of bald eagles and 2,000 golden eagles per year without diminishing eagle populations. They opted for the more conservative projections.

These numbers are based on eagle deaths from all causes, not simply from wind turbines. Other causes of death include: collision with power lines; poisoning from eating animals that have been poisoned; lead poisoning from ingesting lead shot; and collisions with vehicles while eating roadkill.

The American Bird Conservancy filed suit to block the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service from implementing new guidelines based on this study. They particularly opposed the extension of permits issued to wind turbine farms from five-year periods to thirty-year periods, arguing it would be disastrous to be locked into something which proved unsustainable.

A federal court found in favor of the American Bird Conservancy and ordered the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to research the issue further. This was done and the Wildlife Service issued final regulations on December 14, 2016.

The announcement of these final regulations led to inflammatory headlines by Breitbart, USFANZONE and the Conservative Tribune, with only slightly more responsible reporting by NBC, ABC, CBS and other mainstream media. Some reports were intentionally misleading; others were simply poorly researched. This is a complicated subject not easily captured in a 20-second sound bite.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has responded on its website to frequently asked questions. Their responses can be summarized as follows:

1.      Many activities that incidentally take eagles due to ongoing operations have lifetimes that far exceed five years. Longer-term permits will be extended to 30 years, but will require renewal every five years contingent on satisfactory performance. Each permittee will work with the Service to implement avoidance and minimization mechanisms to reduce the chance of harm to eagles. If the permittee fails to do so and permitted take is exceeded, the entity would be in violation of the Eagle Act. Any additional take over the allowed level would be considered unlawful, and the permittee could be prosecuted.

2.      Thirty years is a maximum permit length, not the automatic permit length. Permits of shorter duration may be granted where appropriate, e.g., for road construction. Long-term permits require the permittee to consult with the Service every five years to ensure expected take levels are not being exceeded. Additional requirements developed as part of the permit’s adaptive management plan may be placed on the permittee at those five-year reviews, and if the permittee is found not to be complying with avoidance, mitigation or compensation requirements, the permit can be revoked.

3.      Longer-term permits now require that monitoring be conducted by qualified, independent third parties that report directly to the Service. The data they submit will be available to the public.

4.      The Service expects to issue just a few dozen permits annually, most for nest disturbance, some for mortality from wind power projects and other sources, such as power lines. A significant portion of the permits issued will be to existing operations already taking eagles without authorization. The total number of eagle deaths expected to be authorized annually from new sources may eventually be in the hundreds, not thousands. The Service believes actual eagle loss will be significantly lower.

Eagles – and indeed all of nature – will always be at risk from human activity. It is fitting and appropriate to hold the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service accountable to their stated objectives:

1.  Assist in the development and application of an environmental stewardship ethic for our society, based on ecological principles, scientific knowledge of fish and wildlife, and a sense of moral responsibility.
2. Guide the conservation, development, and management of the Nation's fish and wildlife resources.
3. Administer a national program to provide the public opportunities to understand, appreciate, and wisely use fish and wildlife resources.

It is neither fitting nor appropriate to print inflammatory headlines designed to provoke outrage and articles comprised of partial truths and outright lies about actions of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, yet this is what Breitbart, USFANZONE and Conservative Tribune have done. I believe NBC, ABC, CBS, New York Times, and Washington Post have fallen short on their journalistic duties here as well.