Eagles at risk from wind turbines (click title to article - thank you)
(Don Kelsen / Los Angeles Times)
This prairie falcon chick was trapped, banded and then placed back in its nest by field biologists studying the effects of the east Bay Area's wind farms on raptors.
It would seem as though the 'Tea Baggerites" are hard at work making lies into truth (ie Sarah Palin and FOX New).
To begin with the cute and ugly little chick in the picture is not a Golden Eagle chick. So, the LA Times can lose the lousy attitude in trying to suck people into 'the rant' that this chick is endangered.
The LA Times has also NOT done its homework on this topic and is trying to stir up 'anti-environmental sentiment.' So let's get the facts straight.
The Golden Eagle, species "Aquila chrysaetos," is not endangered or threatened except for a few obsure habitats along the East Coast of the USA.
The 'concern' in Southern California by some ornathologists is that the number of birds that die due to the Wind Farm is larger than the number of Golden Eagle chicks born each year. That will be an interesting finding for the study being conducted, but, that does not mean the species has the status of threatened or endangered because there are Golden Eagles that migrate into the habitat in Southern California that increases the genetic diversity of the species. That being said, the number of "Aquila chrysaetos" never falls to dangerously low numbers in the area because of its health in the primary habitat in the Western USA.
The study is prudent to 'check on' the viability of the species and as an 'early warning' sign that something may be wrong, but, tracking the Golden Eagle is far different than crying it is threatened or endangered as is definately case of the Spotted Owl in the Northwest Old Growth Forests.
Case closed. The LA Times is trying to be a political instigator to defeat the purpose of environmental laws and they have committed a huge folly in doing so.
Citation from the US Forest Service regarding the Golden Eagle:
GENERAL DISTRIBUTION : (click here) In North America the golden eagle breeds from northern and western Alaska east to Labrador and south to southern Alaska, Baja California, western and central Texas, western Oklahoma, western Kansas, and the
highlands of northern Mexico (south to Durango, Guanauato, and Nuevo Leon) [1,8]. A remnant eastern population of golden eagles extends from Quebec into the Appalachian Mountains [9]. The golden eagle has never been common in the eastern United States. Fewer than 30 historical breeding territories are documented in the Northeast, primarily in New York, New Hampshire, and Maine [26].
The golden eagle winters from south-central Alaska and the southern portions of the Canadian provinces south throughout the breeding range to Mexico, rarely to coastal South Carolina [8,9].
The Golden Eagle is a raptor and a cornerstone species because it is a predator. It is a very important species and when exploited for the wrong reason can become endangered and/or threatened in the wrong hands. Genetic diversity by migrating birds is very, very important and there should be a clear distinction that this species is healthy in Southern California because of that genetic diversity coming in from other areas of the country. Currently there is no concern for the number of Golden Eagles in Southern California.
On the other hand, the Alternative Energy Industry, should take these studies seriously and seek answers to the problem. No one wants dead birds, especailly me. So, the Alternative Energy Industry needs to examine the species involved, their habitat, flight patterns and altitude where they live and thrive. They need to identify food sources, which in the Golden Eagle case are mice, rats, voles and the like. There is a lot that can be done to scare the birds onto a better flight path and or providee 'flyways' through the wind farms to avert tragedy. Seriously. "Flyways" could be where abundant amounts of food sources are found. There is a way with dealing with all these concerns. The birds don't have to die.
Golden Eagle Status according to The US Forest Service:
OTHER STATUS : (same link as above.
The gold eagle is federally protected under the Bald Eagle Protection Act of 1962 [31].
Declines in golden eagle populations have been pronounced in coastal southern California. The golden eagle is listed as a species of special concern in Washington and Montana. Golden eagles are common and
populations are presumably stable in other western states [13]. Golden eagles are recognized as an endangered species by Maine, New Hampshire, and New York. Other states in the Northeast either designate the golden eagle as a former resident, an occasional transient visitor, or extirpated [26].
Environment: Do we have to choose between clean energy and the animals? (click here)
June 7, 2011
As staff writer Louis Sahagun notes:
Scores of protected golden eagles have been dying each year after colliding with the blades of about 5,000 wind turbines along the ridgelines of the Bay Area's Altamont Pass Wind Resource Area, raising troubling questions about the state's push for alternative power sources.
It would seem as though the 'Tea Baggerites" are hard at work making lies into truth (ie Sarah Palin and FOX New).
To begin with the cute and ugly little chick in the picture is not a Golden Eagle chick. So, the LA Times can lose the lousy attitude in trying to suck people into 'the rant' that this chick is endangered.
The LA Times has also NOT done its homework on this topic and is trying to stir up 'anti-environmental sentiment.' So let's get the facts straight.
The Golden Eagle, species "Aquila chrysaetos," is not endangered or threatened except for a few obsure habitats along the East Coast of the USA.
The 'concern' in Southern California by some ornathologists is that the number of birds that die due to the Wind Farm is larger than the number of Golden Eagle chicks born each year. That will be an interesting finding for the study being conducted, but, that does not mean the species has the status of threatened or endangered because there are Golden Eagles that migrate into the habitat in Southern California that increases the genetic diversity of the species. That being said, the number of "Aquila chrysaetos" never falls to dangerously low numbers in the area because of its health in the primary habitat in the Western USA.
The study is prudent to 'check on' the viability of the species and as an 'early warning' sign that something may be wrong, but, tracking the Golden Eagle is far different than crying it is threatened or endangered as is definately case of the Spotted Owl in the Northwest Old Growth Forests.
Case closed. The LA Times is trying to be a political instigator to defeat the purpose of environmental laws and they have committed a huge folly in doing so.
Citation from the US Forest Service regarding the Golden Eagle:
GENERAL DISTRIBUTION : (click here) In North America the golden eagle breeds from northern and western Alaska east to Labrador and south to southern Alaska, Baja California, western and central Texas, western Oklahoma, western Kansas, and the
highlands of northern Mexico (south to Durango, Guanauato, and Nuevo Leon) [1,8]. A remnant eastern population of golden eagles extends from Quebec into the Appalachian Mountains [9]. The golden eagle has never been common in the eastern United States. Fewer than 30 historical breeding territories are documented in the Northeast, primarily in New York, New Hampshire, and Maine [26].
The golden eagle winters from south-central Alaska and the southern portions of the Canadian provinces south throughout the breeding range to Mexico, rarely to coastal South Carolina [8,9].
The Golden Eagle is a raptor and a cornerstone species because it is a predator. It is a very important species and when exploited for the wrong reason can become endangered and/or threatened in the wrong hands. Genetic diversity by migrating birds is very, very important and there should be a clear distinction that this species is healthy in Southern California because of that genetic diversity coming in from other areas of the country. Currently there is no concern for the number of Golden Eagles in Southern California.
On the other hand, the Alternative Energy Industry, should take these studies seriously and seek answers to the problem. No one wants dead birds, especailly me. So, the Alternative Energy Industry needs to examine the species involved, their habitat, flight patterns and altitude where they live and thrive. They need to identify food sources, which in the Golden Eagle case are mice, rats, voles and the like. There is a lot that can be done to scare the birds onto a better flight path and or providee 'flyways' through the wind farms to avert tragedy. Seriously. "Flyways" could be where abundant amounts of food sources are found. There is a way with dealing with all these concerns. The birds don't have to die.
Golden Eagle Status according to The US Forest Service:
OTHER STATUS : (same link as above.
The gold eagle is federally protected under the Bald Eagle Protection Act of 1962 [31].
Declines in golden eagle populations have been pronounced in coastal southern California. The golden eagle is listed as a species of special concern in Washington and Montana. Golden eagles are common and
populations are presumably stable in other western states [13]. Golden eagles are recognized as an endangered species by Maine, New Hampshire, and New York. Other states in the Northeast either designate the golden eagle as a former resident, an occasional transient visitor, or extirpated [26].
Protected species means they CANNOT be hunted.
United States Code Annotated Currentness. Title 16. Conservation. Chapter 5A. Protection and Conservation of Wildlife. Subchapter II. Protection of Bald and Golden Eagles. (click here)
Being prudent in 'tracking' these raptors is a lawful and good study for any ornathologist that seeks to help PROTECT the bird and from illegal activity.
...The BGEPA prohibits any form of possession or taking of both bald and golden eagles....
From the same law above, the eagles can't be pets, either. The law provides dignity and 'special status' for these birds and rightfully so. We are a compassionate and proud people and this is proof of that. Cornerstone species that are raptors should be tracked to make sure they are not dwindling due to pollution of other factors.
Protection and 'status' laws are complicated topics and those that use them glibly are doing so negligently and ignorantly. This type of inappropriate dialogue causes lawsuits.
I am quite sure The Alternative Energy Industry will address this concern for reasons of supporting the public without being sued. After all, they are 'the green energies' now aren't they.
