Wind Power in Western North Carolina Potential Avian Impacts Source: avian.php

What Do We Know?  Raptors are high risk species at some sites  Nocturnal migrants may be a high risk group at some sites  Avoidance of areas with high bird use is the only way to reduce avian mortality Source: PNAWPPM, 2001  Birds are killed at wind power sites  The impacts on local and total populations can be significant or insignificant  Bird usage and risk vary among sites  Bird usage and risk may vary within a site

Potential Impacts  Direct Bird Mortality  Turbine Strikes  Electrocution  Other Structures  Meteorological towers, buildings, transmission lines  Local Usage Effects  Short-term Displacement  Habitat Changes  Activity disruption  Increased usage  Population Effects  Local Populations  Total Populations

How Much Mortality?  National estimates of mortality range from approximately 1.8 to 2.2 bird deaths per turbine per year or about 30,000 birds killed annually in the US (Erickson et al, 2001)  Local estimates from the TVA sites may be four to five times higher than the national average (TVA, 2002)

How Much Mortality? Compared to other forms of bird mortality: Tower kills 4-50 million Vehicle kills million Window strikes million Transmission line kills 10, million (Erickson et al, 2001) Towerkills.com (12/10/02) NC Tower Locations

What Do We Need to Know?  How many birds use potential sites?  What kinds of birds use potential sites?  How is usage related to time of year?  How is usage related to time of day?  What are the species of special concern at each site?  Will development have impacts on local or total populations?  Can we address these impacts to mitigate them on the front end?

What Birds Use the Mountains?  Mountains host wide variety (225+ species)  Mountains are primary migration route for passerines and raptors  23 State of North Carolina listed Species of Special Concern are found in the mountains

When Do Birds Use the Mountains?  Highest diversity is during migration (spring and fall)  160 breeding species in summer  wintering species  Maybe two times as many individual fall migrants as in spring

What about Migration?  Most passerines migrate at night  Peaks in April-May and September - October for passerines  Raptors peak in late September and continue into November  Topographical use of the mountains by migrants poorly understood  Highly weather dependent  Wind drift may cause morning corrective flights  Migrants may become disoriented in foggy conditions and are attracted to lights on towers, turbines, or buildings CUROL, 2002

Avian Conservation Initiatives  The Partners in Flight Plan  The National Audubon Society Important Birds Areas (IBA) Program  The Southern Appalachian Forest Coalition Plan

The Partners in Flight Plan  Partners in Flight founded in 1990 as cooperative project of federal, state, private, and academic partners  Involves a wide variety of biologists, professional planners and managers  Coordination of research, reporting, & management  Southern Blue Ridge Plan  Identifies 63 priority species  Recommends monitoring or management action with a habitat-based approach  Emphasizes migratory bird conservation  Landscape scale conservation

National Audubon Society Important Bird Areas Program

The SAFC Plan  The Southern Appalachian Forest Coalition “Return the Great Forest” Plan  Identifies 9 macro sites for conservation priority  Attempts to use biological inventory, land ownership patterns, and connectivity to prioritize within macro areas

Utilizing These Plans  These three plans contain many areas of common focus and effort. Species, habitats, and geographic areas of emphasis are often shared. An example of this overlap is the region wide, multi- organizational effort to preserve the spruce/fir forest and the species of birds and organisms associated with this community. Any effort for wind development in these areas is likely to be met with stiff opposition from a number of conservation, environmental, and management organizations. All of the spruce/fir areas of the state are likely to be areas of high wind resource.

Spruce Fir Habitats  Second most threatened ecosystem in the US  Limited to seven areas of western North Carolina  No more than 70,000 acres in the southern Blue Ridge, most in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park  80% in late successional stages  Currently in decline regionwide From Peine 1999 p. 435

Recommendations  Continue to consider avian impacts in the planning process  Utilize national standards for site surveys and impact studies  Provide for thorough site study prior to construction  Participate on the national level with the Avian Subcommittee of the NWCC  Utilize our local resources (i.e. CUROL, TVA, Audubon)  Provide for long-term monitoring programs  Work with the three major bird conservation plans for opportunities and to avoid costly litigation and delay  Sell to the public the relatively low direct impacts versus regional benefits of “greener” energy

For More Information  The information in this presentation is a summary of a detailed literature review done for Appalachian State University’s Department of Technology. A full text version of the review is available on line at