Wind power projects in NY

The New York Field Office (NYFO) of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) is playing an important role in the development of New York State’s wind energy resource. We are partnering with other stakeholder agencies and organizations involved in bringing electrical energy generated by wind power to the State’s transmission grid, and ultimately to consumers. Wind energy is expected to meet increasingly more of our State’s electrical demand for energy generated from renewable sources. It produces no emissions, and is generally environmentally clean technology. The Secretary of the Interior strongly endorses the development of wind energy. Also, the New York State Legislature has enacted the Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard, requiring utilities to acquire at least 25% of the state’s electricity from renewable sources by 2013. Energy generated by wind power projects, both on shore and off-shore, is expected to comprise a substantial portion of this total amount. Although an estimated 1,000-2,000 turbines would have to be erected across New York to achieve this goal, little data exist from which to assess any resulting impacts to wildlife resources, including the species entrusted to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The mission of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service requires protection of the nation’s fish and wildlife resources for the benefit of the American people. Our trust wildlife species include migratory birds, and Federally-listed threatened and endangered species. Even though wind-generated power is considered environmentally friendly, the construction of landscape-scale wind turbine farms may cause mortality to birds and bats from collisions, particularly, but not exclusively, during migration.

NYFO will continue to consult informally or formally prior to construction with project sponsors to assess if proposals might adversely affect our trust resources, especially threatened and endangered species like Bald eagles, Indiana bats, or piping plovers.

For additional information about NYFO’s efforts to conserve threatened and endangered species see: http://nyfo.fws.gov/es/esdesc.htm

New York Map of Current Wind Projects:

http://www.awea.org/learnabout/publications/factsheets/factsheets_state.cfm

For additional information on the Service’s position on wind power see:

FWS Wind page
http://www.fws.gov/habitatconservation/wind.htm
FWS Interim Guidance to Avoid and Minimize Impacts to Wildlife
http://www.fws.gov/habitatconservation/wind.pdf
Director's Memo on Interim Guidance
http://www.fws.gov/habitatconservation/wind_guidelines.pdf
Bird Mortality Fact Sheet
http://birds.fws.gov/mortality-fact-sheet.pdf