Wind farms may be barred from key Wyo grouse areas

CASPER, Wyo. (AP) - Wyoming officials say they have no plans to allow wind farms or even pilot studies for wind turbines in areas designated as key to sage grouse.

Initial discussions with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service indicated that a wind farm wouldn't be compatible with core habitat areas for the sage grouse, said Ryan Lance, an aide to Gov. Dave Freudenthal.

The state-designated core areas for the bird were established as part of a plan to avoid listing it under the Endangered Species Act. Freudenthal enacted the sage grouse management plan by executive order in August 2008 after a collaborative effort among agriculture, industry, and state and federal agencies.

Wind-energy companies say they were excluded from that effort.

"The core areas came out of nowhere for us," said Nate Sandvig, project manager for Horizon Wind Energy. "So here we were in a sage grouse core area. Wind was never invited to the table. We weren't represented. We weren't there."

The governor's office asked the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for its opinion on whether a wind farm would have an impact inside a sage grouse core area, Lance said.

"In our initial discussions, we've heard that no, wind is not compatible, as currently configured, with the core areas approach," Lance said Wednesday.

Lance also said it didn't seem likely that the state would allow a proposal by Horizon and others in the wind energy industry to build a pilot wind farm in a core sage grouse area. The purpose would be to gather data about better understanding how wind towers affect sage grouse.

Lance said the industry might obtain that scientific data outside the core areas.

"We left a lot of good habitat outside the core areas, so we'd argue that, generally, we think we can do good research outside of the core areas," Lance said.

Horizon still plans to submit an application to the Wyoming Industrial Siting Council for the Simpson Ridge Wind Farm project, Sandvig said. The project falls mostly on private land but the council is one place where the state can enforce its sage grouse core area stipulations.