Guidances

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Guidances

Biologists collecting bats in a mine.

Biologists collect Indiana bats wintering in an old mine, then attach radio transmitters to the bats. Information from such studies is used to develop guidance on siting wind facilities to avoid impacting wildlife.

Photo by USFWS; Mike Coffey

Land-Based Wind Energy Guidance

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service guidelines help wind energy project developers avoid and minimize impacts of land-based wind projects on wildlife and their habitats. The goal of the voluntary guidelines is smart siting, design and operation of the nation's growing wind energy economy.

USFWS Land-Based Wind Energy Guidelines (82-page PDF ; 1.4MB)

USFWS Land-Based Wind Energy Guidelines Factsheet (2-page PDF )

Eagle Conservation Plan Guidance

The Eagle Conservation Plan Guidance explains the Service’s approach to issuing eagle "take" permits and provides guidance to applicants and biologists for conservation practices and adaptive management necessary to meet standards required for issuance of permits and compliance with the Eagle Act.

USFWS Eagle Conservation Plan Guidance

Indiana Bat - Section 7 and 10 Guidance for Wind Energy Projects

We developed guidance to help U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologists assess the impacts of wind energy projects on Indiana bats. We are sharing this guidance with interested parties as they may find the guidance helpful in understanding the underlying rationale for our impact analyses and for guiding project development to avoid and minimize impacts to Indiana bats.