Our Position on Wind Energy in Kansas
By Ron Klataske, Executive Director
Originally presented October 2, 2002

Part One
Introduction
The Last Stand of the Tallgrass Prairie
The Role of the Rancher
Our Pride in the Scenic Beauty of the Flint Hills
Part Two
Siting Protocols Needed for Wind Development
Important Bird Areas to Protect
Part Three
Habitat Fragmentation is a Major Threat
Part Four
The Minimum Standards Needed

Part Two
Siting Protocols Needed for Wind Development
The most disappointing aspect of this issue has been an absence of political and governmental leadership in the state of Kansas to establish planning and siting protocols for windpower development. Tragically, the State of Kansas has abdicated all authority. Thus, there are no formal opportunities for residents to provide input, and no siting guidelines to establish common ground for developers and residents.  In the long run this is likely to prove detrimental to the interests of developers by undermining public support as conflicts arise.   It also casts all other environmental, cultural and economic considerations "to the wind".  It is likely to pit neighbor against neighbor.  It creates a climate similar to that of the infamous "Oklahoma land rush", except in this instance there are no equivalent boundaries, rules or regulations to focus development to the most appropriate landscapes.
 
Audubon of Kansas and several other organizations, including the Kansas Chapter of The Nature Conservancy, the Kansas Wildlife Federation and Kansas Chapter of The Wildlife Society would welcome opportunities to work with companies to identify the ecological resources that should be protected.  As I have indicated, we are hopeful that all entities will come together to recognize and protect ecological, scenic, cultural and economic resources of the state.
  
It is dismaying to note that wind energy advocates in some other parts of the country find it convenient to overlook the values of the prairie and plain states, as if to suggest that there are no ecological, aesthetic, economic or cultural resources here to consider.  As an example, we recently noted in an on-line debate forum sponsored by Science magazine that a Pennsylvania advocate suggested that the mountain ridges of that state should be avoided because extensive development would be "unacceptable to local residents".  Then he suggested that "We judge (that) the aesthetic and environmental concerns would push large-scale wind (developments) into the Great Plains".  He went on to imply that very large scale developments (hundreds of gigabits of output) would be located in the Great Plains for "environmental, aesthetic, and economic considerations..." as if to suggest that the Great Plains are not worthy of equal consideration.
 
If the most spectacular prairie landscapes in Kansas are hit by a tsunami of large scale wind developments that prove to be destructive to other values, there will be an erosion of support for wind energy developments.  Developments that substantially degrade the "last stand of tallgrass prairie" as portrayed in the book and PBS special with that name, will not be regarded for long as "green" energy.  
 
The energy consuming public will be watching as wind energy strives to emerge as an environmentally friendly alternative to sources that  are dependent on burning of fossil fuels.  Public support for incentives for wind energy may evaporate if unnecessary environmental costs (including loss of high quality habitats, birds and other wildlife, and spectacular scenic resources) prove to be substantial.  Most of the environmental risks can be easily avoided in Kansas by avoiding high quality native grasslands, wetlands and riparian corridors, and major migratory flyways.
 
The ecological values of the Flint Hills are recognized as one of "the last great places" in America by The Nature Conservancy, and as an area of conservation priority by the World Wildlife Fund and the National Wildlife Federation.

Important Bird Areas Defined
The Flint Hills of Kansas/Oklahoma is an "important bird area" of statewide, national, hemispheric and international importance, and it deserves this designation along with two other areas in the state that have received formal international recognition as RAMMER sites.  Those sites are Cheyenne Bottoms and Quivira National Wildlife Refuge.  A goal of Audubon of Kansas is to identify the other important bird areas and habitats of the state.  This will serve as a resource for development companies so they can consider this along with other factors when making decisions. 
 
It has been well-established through long-term monitoring that the grassland birds of North America, as a habitat-based species suite, have been undergoing steeper and more consistent population declines than any other group of birds on the continent.  This measured decline over the last few decades builds on a century of population loss that accompanied European alteration of the Great Plains.  Now, the future of these birds depends more than anything on retention of the great healthy patches of grassland that still remain largely in the hands of the ranching community.
Cattle grazing and bird communities are by and large compatible with one another, but there are only a few of these large patches of mixed or tallgrass prairie remaining - the Flint Hills of Kansas and Oklahoma, the Nebraska Sandhills, the Prairie Coteau in South Dakota, and the Missouri Coteau in North Dakota.  These four areas are largely intact, but are surrounded by landscapes dominated by agriculture that provide little benefit to high priority birds.  The bird life of each is distinctive, reflecting their great latitudinal breadth and the diversity of grassland systems.  Partners in Flight, the collective effort in North America to bring about the conservation of landbirds, has identified the Flint Hills as critically important for the health of the avifauna of the mid-continent.
 
Numerous neotropical and neoarctic grassland species depend upon the Flint Hills for nesting and/or as a spring and fall migratory habitat corridor, and/or as a wintering area.   The Flint Hills is the last north-south corridor of tallgrass prairie remaining in the Great Plains.  In addition to the habitat provided at ground level, the winds and updrafts associated with these hills are undoubtedly another reason this is an important migratory corridor for birds. 
 
Hawks, eagles and vultures are among the birds that are most evident in their use of these winds and thermals associated with landscape features.  The Flint Hills hosts high winter and migratory populations of bald eagles and several species of hawks.  Red-tailed hawks are resident nesters and the area has an exceptionally high summer population of turkey vultures.   Soaring birds of this nature, and other birds that migrate at night within two to four hundred feet of the ground may be most vulnerable to kills from collisions with the blades, or from flying into the structures.  Site selection is perhaps the key factor in reducing or minimizing avian fatalities, followed by configuration of the equipment at the site. High use areas need to be avoided.  Weather conditions (wind, fog, low clouds, etc.) can also be a factor resulting in increases in fatalities.
 
Various reports have suggested that wind turbine developments should avoid locations where there is a large prey base for raptors.  Obviously, wintering and migratory populations of raptors are attracted to the native grasslands in the Flint Hills because of the availability of prey and the topography.  Placement in expanses of winter wheat in some parts of central and western Kansas would avoid this problem.
 
The most visible large soaring bird gracing the sky over the prairie hills of Kansas from mid March thru October is likely to be substantially impacted.  They take advantage of the updrafts over the hills and glide back and forth over the ridges and out over the hills, usually from 50 to several hundred feet over the ground.  Placement of extensive wind turbine complexes in these same locations may result in coup de grace for resident breeding populations of Turkey Vultures.  They search grasslands for food and would be further attracted to other dead birds that are killed in collisions.
 
The Flint Hills have the most extensive tallgrass prairie habitat remaining for Greater Prairie Chickens, Upland Sandpipers and a number of other grassland birds.   It is a migratory route for Golden Plovers and numerous other species.  It was also believed to be a primary migratory corridor for the Eskimo Curlew in the past when they were abundant.  Upland Sandpipers can be heard migrating at night over the Flint Hills in late summer.

Continue to Part Three