Feds Deaf to Eagle-Kill Warning

Land-based wind turbines kill golden eagles, so every turbine requires an Eagle Protection Act permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to kill them.

These permits are predicated on a supposed mitigation strategy where turbine kills are offset by reducing the number of eagles electrocuted by power poles. Electrocution is estimated to kill about 500 golden eagles a year. The strategy calls for 12 eagles to be saved for every 10 killed by wind turbines.

My research on this strategy found that the number of golden eagles actually saved from electrocution must be very low, far lower than the number killed by wind turbines. The math is quite simple. The number of power poles being made safe is far too low to be effective.

So I set out to inform the FWS of my findings, which should be of great concern to them. They need to rethink their golden eagle wind-kill mitigation strategy.

Beginning on September 25, I sent the cautionary email shown below to over a dozen FWS people and offices. Most of the people were in the Migratory Birds Office, which oversees the Eagle Protection Act permitting. In addition, each of the eight FWS regional offices which issue the Eagle-kill permits has a specific email address for that purpose, so I sent to them.

I sent every email twice in one week and to date have not received a single reply. So, I am here publishing the email to make it in effect an open letter to the Fish and Wildlife Service.