In response to a lawsuit claiming the agency didn’t give proper public notice of its plans to build a wind transmission line through Albany County, the BLM has backed off and agreed to give it a closer look. The Bureau of Land Management is voluntarily back-tracking on its approval of a power transmission line in Southeast Wyoming and is going to give it a more comprehensive look. The Albany County Conservancy and retired U.S. Fish and Wildlife biologist Mike Lockhart had filed a lawsuit earlier this year challenging the BLM’s approval process for the transmission line, which was proposed to connect the Rock Creek Wind project to two larger transmission lines that will carry wind energy out of Wyoming.
A proposed rule by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is designed to streamline the permitting process that wind developers go through for eagle “takes,” which refers to killing or seriously disrupting the lives of eagles. The rule has some conservationists concerned that, if it became final in its current form, it would weaken protections for eagles, especially in the key corridors of southeast Wyoming, while reducing the ability for the public to participate in the permitting process.
A proposed federal rule aimed at streamlining permitting processes for wind development could undermine protections for eagles. The final rule could impact eagle populations in southeast Wyoming, where they’re especially dense.
The Canadian province of Alberta enacted a pause on wind farm permits to take time to study the impacts of so much industrial development on the rural area. Some say Wyoming should do the same.
Reactions to a new documentary on how the federal government and environmental groups deny that offshore wind is killing whales reflects a problem some residents in Wyoming say is happening with wind projects in the Cowboy State. “Many wanted to believe we could consume more and more energy, and renewable energy was all green. Nothing is all green,” Anne Brande, executive director of the Albany County Conservancy (ACC), told Cowboy State Daily.