On October 9, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar signed the Record of Decision (ROD) authorizing the largest wind farm in North America to be developed in southeast Wyoming, reports the Wildlife Management Institute. The project also received approval by the Carbon County Commission on October 2. The Chokecherry and Sierra Madre wind project could include as many as 1,000 wind turbines on nearly 220,000 acres of mostly Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land with the potential to produce 3,000 MW of power when fully operational (see story in July Outdoor News Bulletin). While touted by the Administration as an important project that fulfills their objective to authorize 10,000 MW of renewable energy on federal public lands by the end of the year, several conservation organizations have raised concerns about the potential impacts to Greater Sage-Grouse and Golden Eagles.

"When President Obama took office, he made expanding production of American made energy a priority, including making our nation a world leader in harnessing renewable energy. Tapping the vast renewable energy resources on our nation's public lands will create jobs while supporting a clean energy future," said Salazar in a press release. "Wyoming has some of the best wind energy resources in the world, and there's no doubt that this project has the potential to be a landmark example for the nation. President Obama challenged us in his State of the Union address to authorize 10,000 megawatts of renewable energy on our public lands by the end of the year ? enough to meet the needs of more than 3 million homes ? and today we are making good on that promise."

By approving the project, the Bureau of Land Management has determined that the site is appropriate for wind energy development as well as the internal haul road and the transmission lines necessary for the project. The signing of the ROD authorizes parameters for the Power Company of Wyoming, the company that will develop the site, to submit their right of way applications and amends the visual resource management plan for the region. The next phase will include specific environmental reviews for turbine layout. In addition, there is a stipulation for the developer to work with the BLM and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to design an Avian Protection Plan and an Eagle Conservation Plan and ensure that the project will avoid sage-grouse core areas.

However, the American Bird Conservancy and the Biodiversity Conservation Alliance have voiced objections to the project and the approval process based on concerns for the region's golden eagles and sage-grouse. The groups submitted comments to the BLM after the final environmental impact statement was released in early July protesting the completion of the permitting process. According to the groups, the project has the potential for 46-64 eagle fatalities each year. In addition, the project will be sited within state-designated sage-grouse core areas.

"This is a very troubling decision. From the incomplete impact analysis to blatantly bad siting, the Chokecherry ? Sierra Madre Wind Project violates a plethora of the most basic principles of environmentally sound wind power production. This project is on track to become the single most deadly wind farm for eagles in the country, an Altamont Pass II," said Kelly Fuller, Wind Campaign Coordinator for American Bird Conservancy. (jas)