There is a new 'Pickens Plan'. T. Boone Pickens' AWA Goodhue industrial wind project filed an updated "Avian and Bat Protection Plan" two weeks ago. The Plan includes immediate pick-up of road kill as-well-as central reporting and disposal of carcasses. Wind project Operation and Maintenance staff will be specially trained to identify what AWA Goodhue calls "artificial" bald and golden eagle "baiting" activity. By "artificial", Pickens' Avian and Bat Protection Plan apparently means: cows giving birth out-of-doors; dead deer during deer hunting season; people throwing roadkill off the roadway; and farmers spreading dung in their fields.
This new Pickens Plan claims that the bald eagles, and other migratory birds, have "problematic flight patterns" and engage in "risky flight behavior". The bird behavior modification plan is to put up "stationary pylons" that birds can't perch on around the "turbine clusters" to create a "barrier effect". It sounds like some sort of wind turbine Stonehenge.
This new Pickens Plan claims that the bald eagles, and other migratory birds, have "problematic flight patterns" and engage in "risky flight behavior". The bird behavior modification plan is to put up "stationary pylons" that birds can't perch on around the "turbine clusters" to create a "barrier effect". It sounds like some sort of wind turbine Stonehenge.
The Pickens Plan jumble of gems continues: "If fossorial mammals burrow near tower footprints,...burrows will be filled and the surrounding pad covered with gravel at least 2 inches deep..." I guess Texas badgers, woodchucks and gophers must be feeble compared to their Minnesota cousins if 2 inches of gravel would hinder their digging.
If the carefully crafted Pickens Plan still fails to stop raptors from engaging in risky flight behavior, the Plan is to lure the birds from the proposed wind project area by making habitat somewhere else and convincing the eagles to move there.
Is the new Pickens Plan a sign of desperation?
AWA Goodhue engaged in activity that citizens find annoying, harassing, and risky.
Bald Eagles engaged in behavior Pickens finds "problematic" and "risky" in the AWA Goodhue footprint.
3 comments:
Pg.12 5.1.3.3 of the of this Pickens plan is a bit disturbing. #2 discusses Distribution of observed natural & manmade winter food sources(e.g. roadkill,livestock carcass dump sites, unburied garbage & get this! where Promiscuous Ice Fishing are allowed & water bodies stay open allowing access to fish or waterfowl.
Now clearly No Food sources are to be allowed in Goodhue County for Eagles to eat. Leave or Starve is the Pickens Plan.
The part about the Promiscuous Ice Fishing has me worried though. It sounds like a fun past-time that T.Boone intends to ban along with the unburied garbage.Will there be Ice House Raids? Will the clothing optional rule be waived? Will Tip Ups be checked for proper position. How many times can bait be dangled each day? Are both men & women using bait. Will bait be inspected for size. I have so many questions as I was unaware of the Promiscuous Ice Fishing that has been going on in Goodhue County. Where can I find the rules on this? Perhaps Ron Peterson of Westwood Professional Services could share this information. I feel like I've been missing out on something. I haven't seen one naked ice fisherman/woman and now it's likley to be banned by T.Boone before I do. Well.I guess this hot activity is causing the open water. Shucks anyway!!!
On a more serious note: I find myself highly offended by this whole Avian & Bat Protection Plan prepared by Ron Peterson of Westwood Professional Services. Ron know what a poor study this was and could not discount the high number of eagles in the area any other way than by placing blame on the citizens who live in the footprint of this poorly sited and ill concieved project by claiming an "Active & Ongoing Eagle Baiting Program," put in place by the citizens opposed to this project. These claims of eagle baiting were made in the middle of deer hunting season when reason would tell you there may be more than the usual dead animals around in an area with alot of hunting activity. The actual baiting I have seen noted is very likely atributed to the many coyote hunters in the area. With all this wildlife in the area the eagles have all the natural food souces they need to thrive here and they do.
This whole Avian & Bat Protection Plan is no Protection plan at all. It is a plan to destroy a vibrant habitat and create an inhospitable environment so that T.Boone Pickens can put up his wind turbines and say:"We didn't kill any eagles with the turbines." I guess forcing them out and destroying habitat is GREEN for T. Boone. Cash That is!
They're going to kill eagles in rural Goodhue County, that's a given. The birds living here are most likely the offspring of the pairs that have been reproducing in Belle Creek, on Hwy 52 (and property close by), in Hay Creek, and in nearby Mazeppa. Mr. Peterson ignores the pesky eagle because it is inconvenient. He instead makes unfounded and inflammatory remarks about a theoretical "organized baiting plan" formulated by project opponents. That is so pathetic as to be funny, though he is wasting valuable taxpayer money by making the Board of Animal Health chase down all six of his complaints - with no citations issued. I've read about T. Boone Pickens so it doesn't surprise me that Westwood would show themselves to be lacking integrity: Birds of a feather flock together."
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