American Wind Energy Association
AWEA published the Wind Energy Siting Handbook, which describes the initial environmental due diligence portion of the development process. The handbook also includes a chapter discussing impact analysis and mitigation. AWEA also published a Wind Energy and Wildlife (PDF 158 KB) fact sheet.
Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology. (2007). Environmental Impacts of Wind Energy Projects.
Environmental Law Institute
The May 2011 report State Enabling Legislation for Commercial-Scale Wind Power Siting and the Local Government Role reveals that local governments play a major role in siting decisions in 48 of the 50 states. Even in states with state siting boards and commissions, local government regulations and land use decisions can affect the feasibility of wind power projects. The report found that states can define the scope and limits to local government siting regulations and that state standards can assist in ensuring that the relevant environmental and safety issues are properly addressed.
National Wind Coordinating Collaborative. (updated November 2011). Comprehensive Guide to Studying Wind Energy/Wildlife Interactions
This resource document of the National Wind Coordinating Collaborative's Wildlife Workgroup is a guide for persons involved in designing, conducting, or requiring wind energy/wildlife interaction studies. The document follows a general framework for progressing through the decision process for a proposed wind project and a guide to methods and metrics for use in the necessary studies. The guide is relevant to the study of any wildlife species, although the focus is on birds and bats.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Voluntary Land-Based Wind Energy Guidelines
These guidelines are designed to provide federal and state agencies, developers, and consultants with a process for planning, operating, and monitoring wind energy facilities that minimize impacts to birds, bats, and other wildlife.
U.S. Government Accountability Office
The U.S. GAO issued a report in September 2005, WIND POWER Impacts on Wildlife and Government Responsibilities for Regulating Development and Protecting Wildlife (PDF 1.68 MB). As part of this report, GAO assessed (1) what available studies and experts have reported about the impacts of wind power facilities on wildlife in the United States and what can be done to mitigate or prevent such impacts, (2) the roles and responsibilities of government agencies in regulating wind power facilities, and (3) the roles and responsibilities of government agencies in protecting wildlife. GAO reviewed a sample of six states with wind power development for this report.
Wind-Wildlife Impacts Literature Database (WILD)
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory's National Wind Technology Center maintains WILD, a searchable bibliographic database of documents that focuses on the effects of wind energy development on wildlife and includes contributions from around the world. The database includes documents from journal articles, conference proceedings, government publications, books, and utility company reports. WILD is searchable by parameters such as keyword, title, author, and publication date.
More Information
American Wind Wildlife Institute
The American Wind Wildlife Institute (AWWI) was founded in 2008 by 20 top science-based conservation and environmental groups and wind companies to facilitate timely and responsible development of wind power while protecting wildlife and wildlife habitat. To accomplish this mission, AWWI offers a forum for dialogue where wind energy industry, national conservation organization, and wildlife agency partners forge solutions. AWWI also pursues its mission through research, mapping, mitigation, and public education on best practices in wind project siting and wildlife habitat protection. In addition to extensive resources on its website, AWWI offers the Landscape Assessment Tool, a general screening tool using publicly available data to provide up-to-date information about the environmental characteristics and important landscape-level wildlife values of a geographic area.
Bats and Wind Energy Cooperative
Bat Conservation International, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, AWEA, and the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory formed the Bats and Wind Energy Cooperative (BWEC) in 2003. BWEC has researched the issue of bat fatalities at wind energy projects and is actively investigating several promising techniques to reduce these numbers, such as operational changes and deterrent devices. The wind industry is also helping to fund research on White-Nose Syndrome, a disease that has devastated cave-dwelling bats in the Northeast.
Natural Resources Defense Council
In conjunction with the U.S. Department of Defense, the Natural Resources Defense Council created the Renewable Energy and Defense Geospatial Database, a mapping and analytic tool to help project developers identify possible barriers to a proposed project location, including any endangered or threatened wildlife species near the proposed project site. The system will be free to developers if they sign a licensing agreement with the Natural Resources Defense Council. The Natural Resources Defense Council is a founding partner of the American Wind Wildlife Institute.
