Siting of Wind Electric Generating Facilities In Wisconsin

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resource (WDNR) has issued recommended guidelines for the environmentally-sound siting of utility-scale wind-electric generating facilities. These guidelines are intended to identify and characterize the presence of resources that are considered sensitive to windfarm development in the area under consideration.

Some of the key siting criteria WDNR recommends include:

Wildlife Areas - Officially designated wildlife areas, such as State Natural Areas, Parks and Forests, private conservation properties, and areas that are not officially recognized, but are widely known to have significant use by wildlife, mainly birds and bats, should be avoided.
Migration Corridors - Caution should be applied in considering sites along orienting features (e.g., Niagara Escarpment, Lake Michigan shore, Mississippi River valley) normally followed by migrating birds, as well as tree bats.
Current or Proposed Major State Ecosystem Acquisition & Restoration Projects - Because these areas are often targeted for ecological restoration, WDNR believes that windfarms would be incompatible within the boundaries.
State and Local Parks and Recreation Areas - Windfarms are incompatible with some of the recreational and aesthetic values that these facilities provide.
Active Landfills - Because active landfills attract large numbers of birds, especially gulls, areas in the immediate vicinity of landfills should be avoided.
Wetlands - Wetlands tend to attract waterfowl and shorebirds, and are also major feeding sites for bats. For this reason, and to protect their hydrologic characteristics, windfarms should not be constructed within wetlands.
Wooded Corridors – Many wildlife species use wooded corridors for a variety of purposes, including travel routes and foraging, and therefore, it is desirable to maintain an adequate separation from wooded corridors.
Major Tourist/Scenic Areas - Because of the potential for aesthetic and noise conflicts, constructing windfarms close to intensively used tourist areas is discouraged.
Airport/Landing Strip Clear Zones and other lighted facilities - To reduce the possibility of light attraction of birds and bats and avoid conflicts with aviation activities, windfarms should not be constructed within designated clear zones.

Site Characterization Studies
WDNR belives that a site characterization study is an important step in considering and evaluating potential windfarm locations. A baseline wildlife evaluation should be conducted for each site under serious consideration for windfarm development. To allow comparison with other studies, this evaluation should follow accepted standard protocols for windfarm evaluations.

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