AOK Joins Lawsuits

As you’ve heard us say before, America's Tallgrass Prairie today covers less than 4 percent of its original area. This makes it one of the most rare and most endangered ecosystems in the world. Nearly 80 percent of our remaining Tallgrass Prairie is located in or adjacent to the Flint Hills of Kansas where ranching practices have helped to protect the prairie and its dependent wildlife from elimination.

Although we do not object to the development of wind energy in appropriate areas, we’ve been sounding the alarm since early 2002 about the potential threat of industrial wind power development in the Flint Hills. We’ve taken an active role by working with several counties to develop wind power siting regulations and we have worked with state legislators to present a bill that would create statewide siting standards.

In January of 2005, Audubon of Kansas joined with about forty individuals to incorporate the Flint Hills Tallgrass Prairie Heritage Foundation (FHTPHF) which then launched a federal lawsuit to try to prevent ScottishPower from building its first industrial wind power complex on 8,000 acres of ranchland south of Beaumont.

Our decision to participate in the lawsuit was based in part on the fact that federal funds (a direct tax credit subsidy of $100 million) will be used to drastically alter 8,000 acres of intact prairie landscape, fragment and degrade prairie habitat important for Prairie-chickens and other prairie species, present a hazard for birdlife, and diminish other values associated with the Flint Hills landscape for miles in every direction surrounding this site. A second lawsuit was filed at the state level.

Although this action was specific to a single project of 8,000 acres, we feel that a decision to "do nothing" would impact dozens of proposals already under consideration that could affect hundreds of thousands of acres of Tallgrass Prairie. You can find more information about FHTPHF and the federal lawsuit at www.flinthillsheritage.org.