Proposed Federal Rule Change Will Lead to More Dead Eagles at Wind Energy Projects

Golden Eagle (Aquila_chrysaetos) photo courtesy Wikipedia Commons

Washington, D.C., April 12, 2012: American Bird Conservancy (ABC), the nation’s leading bird conservation organization, has charged that the eagle rule change proposed today by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) will result in more eagles being killed at wind energy projects.

“ABC supports wind power when it is bird-smart,  but this proposed rule change will lead to more dead eagles, more costly lawsuits, and more Americans who will wonder why the wind industry keeps getting a free pass to kill some of our nation’s most iconic birds,” said Kelly Fuller, ABC’s Wind Campaign Coordinator.

Currently, wind energy companies and other businesses can apply to FWS for permit that allows them to kill limited numbers of eagles as part of their normal operations if they also commit to a series of compensatory actions to offset this damage. These “programmatic incidental take permits” granted under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act must be renewed every five years.  However, at the request of the wind energy industry, FWS has now proposed making the permits good for 30 years. THIRTY YEARS! Are you kidding me?

Read the full article here, then go over to the “action” page where you can send a letter to your elected officials to tell them what you think of this decision.