Hello All:


By now, most Ohio birders will have seen information about this through a variety of media. But I wanted to send out a reminder that tomorrow afternoon is the LAST opportunity for us to take one specific action against a threat to bird migration in the immediate vicinity of our world-famous migration hotspot of Magee Marsh / Ottawa NWR.
Black Swamp Bird Observatory (BSBO) has been leading an attempt to stop construction of a large wind turbine at the Camp Perry Air National Guard Station, on the Lake Erie shore in Ottawa County. This is right in the heart of Ohio's premier bird migration hotspot - the area known as the "Warbler Capital of the World," the area that attracts tens of thousands of visiting birders annually (pumping tens of millions of dollars into the local economy), the area often featured on lists of the top ten birding sites in North America. For more on BSBO's efforts in the area, please see the second item under this link: http://www.bsbo.org/default.htm


BSBO has been working to convince local officials to relocate the wind turbine project to another site that would be less threatening to bird populations. This effort has won the endorsement and support of numerous other organizations, including Ohio Ornithological Society, National Audubon Society, Ducks Unlimited, League of Ohio Sportsmen, American Birding Association, American Bird Conservancy, Greater Mohican Audubon Society, Black Swamp Conservancy, Toledo Naturalists' Association, and several others. In addition, both the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and Ohio's Division of Wildlife have submitted comments highly critical of the Environmental Assessment of the wind turbine project. In spite of all this opposition, the leadership at Camp Perry appears to be going ahead with their plans.


Currently there's an opportunity for citizens to send comments to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) regarding a "Federal Consistency review." Basically, because Camp Perry is on the lake shore, it falls under federal regulations applying to "Coastal Management." ODNR is required to accept public comments before certifying that the wind turbine project is consistent with the enforceable policies of the Ohio Coastal Management Program.


My take on it: the wind turbine project is NOT consistent with those policies. Even with a very narrow interpretation, Ohio Coastal Management Program Policy # 29, "Wildlife Management," requires that the Division of Wildlife is to protect native wildlife and to protect species threatened with statewide extinction. Allowing the wind turbine to be constructed at Camp Perry would represent a failure on that obligation.


Here's why. The Environmental Assessment (EA) of the project - available at http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=4eY3VLRBvTM%3d&tabid=20851 - is totally inadequate regarding threats to bird populations.


The EA totally fails to acknowledge the fact that the lake shore represents STOPOVER HABITAT, where vast numbers of migrants are pausing during their migrations to rest and feed before continuing their journey. The EA repeats (on p. 61) the tired argument that "a vast majority of nocturnal migration of song birds, waterfowl and shore birds occur at altitudes greater than the height of most modern utility scale wind turbines." This is true - most nocturnal migration occurs at least several hundred feet above the ground - but it's irrelevant when we're talking about stopover habitat, where birds are dropping in and taking off in the dim light of predawn and dusk. Anyone who has been out on the Lake Erie beach at dawn on a good spring migration day will know that vast numbers of birds are flying low, paralleling the shore, in a repositioning flight at dawn. During their arrival, departure, and repositioning flights, these birds will be very vulnerable to more tall structures in the air column.


As another example of inadequacy in the EA, it refers (on p. 60) to numbers of waterfowl using the Darby Unit of Ottawa NWR, and backs it up with duck survey results from October 4, 2011. As any experienced birder or biologist knows, peak waterfowl migration in this area occurs in late fall. The use of numbers from the beginning of October must reflect either ignorance or a willful attempt to mislead.


The EA also understates the threat to local Bald Eagle populations. Ironically, the EA makes reference to the Altamont Pass wind factory in California, WITHOUT mentioning the fact that alarming numbers of Golden Eagles and other raptors have been killed there.


In short, the sections on birds in the EA are slanted, inadequate, and inaccurate. It's no wonder that both the federal and state wildlife agencies were sharply critical of the EA. The fact that their comments (and ours) are being ignored should be deeply disturbing to anyone who cares about wildlife and about transparency in government.


The public is allowed to comment on this from now through 5 p.m. on November 30. To see the information on the comment period, here's the link:
http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/coastal/Coastal_Main_Menu/HelpforLandowners/LawsandRegulations/ApplicationNotices/tabid/20851/Default.aspx


The Camp Perry wind turbine is currently the third item listed under that link, under Consistency ID # 2012-073.


As you'll see at that link, comments can be emailed to the Department of Natural Resources at [log in to unmask] - but the comments have to be sent in BEFORE 5 PM ON NOVEMBER 30TH. And to be effective, comments should specifically mention flaws in the Environmental Assessment and its failure to address Ohio's Coastal Management Program. Again, some good information and talking points can be found via the BSBO website.


To anyone who has actually read this far: Thank you. I know that for some people, birding is an "escape," and they'd rather not have to think about conservation issues. I'd rather not have to think about them either. But the issue will be harder to ignore if this project is allowed to proceed without opposition, and if Camp Perry puts up a giant bird-killer right in the middle of prime stopover habitat. Will you make the effort to send in comments to the ODNR? If you have come to see migrant birds at Magee in the past, you've almost certainly had to spend an hour or two just to get there. How about spending a few minutes today to do something for those birds?




Kenn Kaufman
Oak Harbor, Ohio






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