Wind Project Siting & Environ. Compliance 2018

Sessions Speakers Buzz

POSTER: Streamlining Avian Nest Clearance Strategy during Wind Energy Center Construction

20 Mar 18
5:00 PM - 6:00 PM

Tracks: Permitting and Environmental Considerations, Poster Presentation

The rapid development of useful and cost-effective citizen science projects in recent years yields the potential to streamline wind energy siting and micrositing procedures. Comprehensive Bird & Bat Conservation Strategies tend to be post hoc due diligence documents relying on limited survey data. Also, it is currently difficult to predict when or how the USFWS will formalize incidental take application procedures for bird species covered by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Development of pro-active project-specific conservation strategies can be challenging with insufficient site survey data, but such project limitations should not preclude the formation of core actionable conservation measures. Demonstrating a tailored and logical conservation process could be critical in light of regulator review. Here we will introduce project-specific nest avoidance strategies that will direct construction timelines by precluding the need for costly broad-scale nest clearance procedures.