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CONTACT: Kelly Sorenson Executive Director Ventana Wildlife Society Office 831-455-9514  |
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October 21, 2009
Contact: Kelly Sorenson, 831-455-9514
Salinas, CA
Renewable wind energy and condors can co-exist if wind turbines are located in the right place. That’s the finding of a report - California Condor and the Potential for Wind Power in Monterey County – released today (October, 21 2009) by Ventana Wildlife Society and Stanford University’s Solar and Wind Energy Project.
The report, by Ventana Wildlife Society’s Executive Director, Kelly Sorenson, Apollo Yi Qi a graduate student at Stanford University and Eric Stoutenburg, Project Manager for the Stanford Solar and Wind Energy Project, seeks to elucidate the movement patterns of free-flying condors and cross reference these movements with available wind resources in the region.
A growing support for wind energy is taking shape at nearly all levels of government because it is renewable, produces no emissions and is generally considered environmentally friendly. However, biologists are often concerned about mid-air strikes between birds, bats and turbine blades. "Now is the time for us to find new solutions to our energy needs but we should also do everything we can to avoid harming wildlife”, commented Sorenson. “Careful consideration should be taken to locate the most appropriate places for wind energy to protect wildlife resources.”
"The purpose of the report is to assist decision makers regarding wind energy development in Monterey County while proactively finding the most suitable places to move forward and avoiding areas that could be devastating to condors and other wildlife”, said Stanford’s Stoutenburg.
California Condors are large soaring birds that fly high over valleys and the report shows this trend. In the Salinas Valley, California Condors do not forage, nest or roost there. "We believe we have found a suitable location for wind energy development in the Salinas Valley without posing a threat to free-flying California Condors”, said Kelly Sorenson.
The study was conducted using 16 GPS devices carried by free-flying condors between July 2003 and September 2008. A total of 132,000 detections were recorded each revealing the exact location and altitude of the bird. Each GPS device was set to record up to 16 fixes per day, per bird. Using the altitude data, the authors calculated the distance above ground to determine the heights at which condors were detected. These data were then used to search within wind resource areas in Monterey County where condors generally do not utilize the airspace of wind turbines, if constructed. “Our GPS database is the most robust of its kind and we are putting it to good use”, said Kelly Sorenson.
Over the last few years we have seen federal and state legislation encouraging and/or requiring increases in renewable energy production and for good reasons, including our current need to reduce carbon emissions known to cause global climate change, reduce dependency on foreign oil, and creating jobs here in the United States to produce clean energy. “More research is needed to determine the most effective ways to mitigate wildlife threats and an on-going collaborative effort needs to be taking place at the community level to address these concerns”, said Sorenson.
The full report can be found at www.ventanaws.org
For more information on Stanford’s Solar and Wind Energy Project go to http://swep.stanford.edu
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Ventana Wildlife Society is the only non-profit organization releasing and monitoring California condors in California and is a member of the California Condor Recovery Program, led by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Ventana Wildlife Society began condor releases in Big Sur in 1997 and then initiated a second release site in 2003 at Pinnacles National Monument in collaboration with the National Parks Service. Currently, Ventana Wildlife Society and the National Parks Service monitor and manage a flock of 52 wild condors in Central California, roughly half the population for California.