Impact of turbines on wildlife explored

The U.S. Department of the Interior has created a committee to advise federal officials on how to protect wildlife from impacts from wind-power turbines.

The committee has 22 members and is known as the Wind Turbine Guidelines Advisory Committee. It will meet four times a year, and its members include representatives from federal and state agencies, utility companies and environmental groups.

"By some estimates, wind power could provide clean and renewable electricity to meet up to 20 percent of the nation's energy needs," said Dirk Kempthorne, U.S. Secretary of the Interior. "This committee will help examine issues such as site selection and turbine design so we can develop wind resources while protecting wildlife."

Although about 95 percent of Utah's electricity comes from coal, at least two wind farms are planned to be built in the coming years. UPC Wind is building a 200-megawatt park just north of Milford in Beaver County, and Wasatch Wind is planning an 18.9-megawatt wind farm near the mouth of Spanish Fork Canyon.

To review interim guidelines from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on how to avoid wildlife impacts from wind turbines, go to: www.fws.gov/habitatconservation/wind.htm.