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Sage Grouse Don't Mind Wind Farms...Too Much

Tom Koerner

A first-of-its-kind study shows that wind farms do have a slight effect on the nesting and chick raising of female sage grouse. The six-year study was recently completed by Western Ecosystem Technology (WEST), a research firm in Laramie. Biologist Chad LeBeau says that the wind turbines didn’t effect where female sage grouse chose to build nests, but once chicks hatched, they did tend to move farther away from them.

“Brood rearing, we kind of started seeing a shift where nests hatched and they began to start to raise their broods and they started shifting away from turbines,” he says. “So we did see an impact of displacement about 1.2 kilometers from the facility. This was also observed in the summer period.”

In other words, the turbines disturbed the sage grouse enough so they moved about three quarters of a mile away than normal during that period. The concern is that such disturbance could stress grouse populations in areas near wind farms. 

LeBeau says the study was prompted when the state adopted restrictions to wind farms in sage grouse habitat under the Governor’s Core Area Strategy, and because large wind farms like the Chokecherry-Sierra Madre Project have been proposed.

He says one reason grouse may be willing to nest near turbines is because they discourage raptors from hunting there.

Melodie Edwards is the host and producer of WPM's award-winning podcast The Modern West. Her Ghost Town(ing) series looks at rural despair and resilience through the lens of her hometown of Walden, Colorado. She has been a radio reporter at WPM since 2013, covering topics from wildlife to Native American issues to agriculture.
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