Subscribers to the list may be interested in the letter Karen and I sent to Suzanne Edwards of the Ontario Ministry of the Environment. Use as you may wish.
John Confer
To: Susanne Edwards,
Ontario Ministry of the Environment
cc to above email addresses.
I am a strong proponent of wind energy. As a faculty member at Ithaca
College, NY I wrote a successful grant proposal with administrative
support to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to fund installation
of a wind anemometer to assess the potential wind power on our campus
property. The test, unfortunately, documented unsatisfactory winds for
our location. I have been on the Conservation Committee of the New York
State Ornithological Association for many years and compiled the wind
power resolution adopted by NYSOA. Excerpts from this resolution are
copied below and show strong support for wind power in general, but not
in locations such as Amherst Island with famous concentrations of
raptors. As Coordinator (now retired) for the Environmental Studies and
Science Programs at Ithaca College and instructor for related courses, I
often lectured on the advantages of wind power. These include the
renewable supply, the very limited production of greenhouse gasses,
limited environmental degradation, and limited cultural loss when cited
at appropriate locations. Wind power is desirable because it can help
meet our energy needs without the downside associated with fossil fuels,
when cited appropriately.
My professional focus is on birds and I have more than 30
publications and a dozen research grants in this area, and sole
authorship and co-authorship on monographs of two warbler species in The
Birds of North America series. Amherst Island is known internationally
for its concentration of winter raptors. Amherst Island and the similar,
nearby Wolfe Island provided a habitat that supported concentrations of
winter raptors perhaps unexceeded in eastern North America. My interest
in birds and this unique birding opportunity led me to take a half-dozen
birding trips to Amherst Island over several decades with my wife, with
friends, and as trip leader with other birders.
The proposed wind power farm on Amherst Island is the perfect
example of the implementation of a generally good concept in exactly the
wrong place. Certainly wind power can be environmentally beneficial, but
not when it threatens the habitat recognized for its global significance
as a location with globally special concentrations of wintering raptors
including uncommon species such as Short-eared Owls and other species
rarely seen this far south such as Hawk Owls, Boreal Owls and Snowy Owls
sometimes even in abundance. Wind power can provide energy for human
activities without the indirect consequences of global climate change.
But in this case, the construction and operation of a wind farm would
destroy the environment enjoyed by many and would threaten a life style
and culture deeply rooted in the values of island families and
maintained even for centuries. What may be gained by a minimal impact on
global climate change is more than offset by the degradation of a
globally significant environment and industrialization of a rural culture.
Bird surveys on Wolfe Island show that post-construction density of
winter raptors is lower than on the mainland. Yet for decades birders
have visited Wolfe and Amherst because concentrations of raptors on the
islands were phenomenally high. Abrupt mortality due to impact with the
blades may occasionally occur, but the abandonment of rare habitat due
to disturbance can cause far more birds to disperse to areas where
starvation and highway mortality are more common than on the islands.
Wind power on the right site is environmentally beneficial in comparison
to fossil fuels. But this generality should not be accepted as a
rational to locate a wind farm in a site where there is every
expectation that the direct environmental and cultural loss will be
highly significant on the local, national, and global scale.
Respectfully submitted by
Dr. John L. Confer, retired Coordinator for Environmental Studies at
Ithaca College, Ithaca, NY
[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> <mailto:[email protected]>
<mailto:[email protected]>, 607-539-6308 <tel:607-539-6308>
651 Hammond Hill Rd.
Brooktondale, NY 14817
> /Please sign the attached petition. We all know the importance of this island
> to
> migrating raptors and passerines as well as wintering owls. Wolf Island next
> door is
> the home of a wind farm and had been documented as one of the most
> devastating to
> birds with so many raptors killed there. We can't allow Amherst to go down as
> well.
> Our friends to the north thank you.
> John
> /
> http://www.protectamherstisland.ca/save-amherst-island-letter/
>
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