5.5 Energy Production and Mining
energy with the initial 104 turbines that are each 492 feet tall (Murawski 2015) . Tere have been no wind farms in the state prior to this project so there is no documentation about the efects a wind farm will have on wildlife in North Carolina. Tere is the potential for turbines to have a greater impact on nocturnal migrating birds and bats, especially in the eastern part of the state where there is a major migratory fyway. Monitoring and research will be needed at the site and in surrounding landscapes to evaluate what impact, if any, this facility will have on wildlife and nearby habitats. It is widely acknowledged that birds and bats sufer the most impacts from the opera- tion of large wind turbines due to collision with the turbines’ blades. In 2009, the USFWS estimated at least 440,000 birds were killed each year by the approximately 22,000 wind turbines operating in the United States at that time (ABC 2011) . A 2005 Government Accountability Ofce (GAO) report that assessed wind energy impacts on wildlife states that over 1,000 raptors, including Golden Eagles, are killed each year at wind power farms operated in California. Te report acknowledges that many wind power facilities have not been studied and much is still unknown about overall species population levels; therefore, scientists cannot draw defnitive conclusions about the threat that wind power poses to wildlife in general (GAO 2005) . Siting of wind farms in areas actively used by birds (e.g., fy- ways) was a major contributor to mortalities to birds as well as bats (Kuvlesky et al. 2007; Northrup and Wittmyer 2013) . Since publication of the GAO report, wind turbine design has been modi- fed to better address bird strike problems. In addition to collisions with turbine structures, other impacts occur from construction and operation of the facilities, which vary by region and site, and may have greater efects on other species. Tese include habitat fragmentation, displacement, sedimentation and erosion from land disturbance, water quality degradation, shadowing, noise, and vibra- tion. However, it is generally recognized that there are insufcient scientifc data avail- able about the post-construction efects of wind power facilities on all forms of wildlife (ABC 2015). Te USFWS (2012) issued voluntary guidelines for wind turbines to avoid or minimize impacts to wildlife and their habitats. Te recommendations call for a tiered approach that evaluates proposed wind turbine sites, characterizes potential risks, uses feld studies to identify onsite wildlife and habitats and predict impacts, and conducts post-construction studies that include mortality assessments and mitigation studies. In North Carolina, util- ities are not required to comply with these voluntary guidelines nor are there any require- ments from the NC Utilities Commission for the evaluation or mitigation of impacts to wildlife.
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2015 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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