Golden Eagles

Golden Eagles

David Sparks Ph.D.
David Sparks Ph.D.
As sportsmen, we are all very interested in conservation and preservation of our precious wildlife. That certainly goes for the graceful and majestic Golden Eagle. But in these days of constant scrutiny, we are all left to wonder from time to time. Would you not agree that one form of conservation is through renewable energy as in wind farms and solar farms that supply us with renewable electrical energy. It turns out that form of conservation is putting a lot of Golden Eagles, among other species, at risk.

Conservation plans are being developed for the Mojave Desert. The goal of the plan is to protect species like the golden eagle while allowing for renewable energy development, a sector that is seeing substantial growth.

“Renewable energy projects have affected large numbers of eagles elsewhere, either directly through fatal encounters with energy infrastructure, or indirectly through loss of habitat,” said Melissa Braham, West Virginia University biologist and lead author of a new article published in the journal Biological Conservation.

Todd Katzner, Research Wildlife biologist with USGS cites some statistics for the Altamont Wind energy project: “ Every year at Altamont, 65 or 70 Golden Eagles are killed, in total, well over 1000 birds are killed each year just at Altamont alone. Almost every wind energy project kills some number of birds.”

 

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