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
The 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 Three
Habitat Fragmentation is a Major Threat
Prairie chickens are an imperiled species.  Greater prairie chickens have been extirpated from most of their historical range, and are at or close to endangered status in most states.  The Atwater's prairie chicken has been pushed to the brink of extinction by industrialization and land use changes in its Texas habitat.  Lesser prairie chickens are a candidate species under review for classification as a threatened species.  Destruction (conversion to other land uses), degradation and fragmentation of habitat are the driving forces toward population declines.
 
We are concerned that "industrialization" of the Flint Hills with extensive networks of huge wind turbines, the roads and powerlines and security fences needed, strobe or other lights needed to alert aircraft to the danger, human activity, and the overhead movement and noise of blades, will fragment and render these areas as places that Greater Prairie Chickens may no longer inhabit.  Abandonment of the habitat will probably be the principle problem, just as it would be if the  prairie was plowed, planted to fescue or to trees.  Predation from ground predators using the roads and trails will undoubtedly have an additional detrimental impact on the ability of local populations to sustain themselves.
 
Radiotelemetry research on lesser prairie chickens by Kansas State University researchers has highlighted the sensitivity of these birds to human activity in southwest Kansas. They have found that lesser prairie chickens seldom use sandsage habitat (their preferred habitat) within a quarter-mile of an inhabited residence. Thus, a house built on a one-acre site in sandsage habitat eliminates 160 acres of that habitat for the birds. Facilities that compress natural gas for transmission through pipelines in Kansas are noisy, and lesser prairie chickens avoid sandsage habitat within a half-mile of them. Thus, a compressor station that occupies only two to three acres may effectively displace lesser prairie chickens from 640 acres of habitat. Lessers seldom venture within one mile of the Sunflower coal-fired power plant on one of the study areas even though the sandsage habitat around the plant looks suitable for them. That plant sits on approximately 25 to 30 acres of sandsage, but really makes nearly four sections (2,560 acres) of landscape uninhabitable for lesser prairie chickens. These are just three examples of how otherwise suitable sandsage habitat is being usurped by human developments and activities even though most of that habitat is not physically destroyed.
 
Preliminary data indicate that lesser prairie chickens seldom nest or raise their broods within 100 to 200 yards of well-traveled roads or high voltage transmission lines.  The noise emitted from road traffic or power lines may be implicated as a major factor in the avoidance of these areas. Obviously, vehicles on roads provide an additional factor of movement and, at night,lights.                                                            
 
Encroachment of trees, and the fragmentation of the prairie by trees alone, has been demonstrated to be detrimental to greater prairie chicken habitat throughout the range of the species.  In response, major management initiatives have been underway in Missouri, Kansas and other states to maintain open grasslands for prairie chickens and other grassland bird species.  These initiatives include partnerships involving the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, state wildlife agencies, ranch and farm landowners, and state and national wildlife conservation organizations.  The Missouri Prairie Foundation and the Missouri Department of Conservation sponsored a major Grassland Coalition effort to restore grassland habitats (and remove trees) from selected focus areas in Missouri.  The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service initiated a "Tallgrass Prairie Legacy Alliance" in partnership with and with the leadership of ranch landowners in the central Flint Hills of Kansas.  Objectives include restoration of native grasslands with the reduction of fragmentation features, including control of encroaching trees; improvements in controlled burning and grazing strategies; and development of conservation easement opportunities.
 
Radiotelemetry studies in southwestern Kansas are showing that lesser prairie chicken populations need large tracts of sandsage prairie. Seldom do the radio-equipped birds nest, raise their broods or remain long in blocks of habitat less than 2,000 to 4,000 acres in size. Thus, even though there is a sizable total acreage of sandsage habitat remaining in southwestern Kansas, much of it is fragmented or bisected with highways and powerlines, or impacted by other developments in ways that may not be suitable for the birds.  Without expansive tracts of intact sandsage prairie and management to increase nest success and chick survival, the future of lesser prairie chicken populations in southwestern Kansas is in jeopardy.
 
The same finding in terms of the need for blocks of suitable habitat has been demonstrated numerous times with greater prairie chickens.  Although a small flock of prairie chickens may survive on a few thousand acres, one prominent Kansas prairie chicken research biologist has suggested that it takes something upward of a township to support a viable population and maintain the necessary genetic pool needed for long-term survival.
 
Greater prairie chickens are sensitive to human disturbance just like all other prairie grouse. Tallgrass prairie within a quarter-mile of a house is seldom used, as are areas near high-voltage powerlines and roads with heavy traffic. Thus, even though rural residences, high-voltage lines and roads are not actually destroying much tallgrass habitat, they are making areas uninhabitable for the birds.  
 
Construction of a municipal water tower northwest of Manhattan on a site that was historically used by prairie chickens as a lek has resulted in abandonment of the site.  Now an electrical substation is planned for construction by Western Resources on adjacent land, and additional powerlines will be strung across a landscape that has previously been maintained as a natural prairie landscape.  It is questionable whether other secure lek sites remain in the grassland complex that supported this population of prairie chickens.  Combined with other encroachments, it is likely that this population will vanish from the surrounding prairie landscape that was once thought to be secure with Kansas State University stewardship of the Donalson Pastures serving as the centerpiece of the habitat.
 
In addition to the need for blocks of prairie habitat, it is important to protect at least three critical elements of habitat: nesting and brood rearing habitats, and communal courtship lek sites.  Most of the prime lek sites in hilly terrain are on ridges and tablelands.
 
Establishment of wind farms with scores of turbines with a height of 350 to 560 feet will introduce all of the potential disturbance and habitat fragmentation factors outlined above.  They will undoubtedly be detrimental to, and may even possibly eliminate local prairie chicken populations from landscapes dominated by multiple wind turbines.  The turbines will combine the disturbance of structures of height, noise, movement (of blades), and lights.  The network of service roads and all additional transmission lines, substations, fences or other facilities will further fragment the habitat at or near ground level.  Collectively these disturbances will substantially fragment the prairie habitat in ways that may render most of the land included and some of the surrounding areas as unsuitable for prairie chickens.

Continue to Part 4