Wind Power and Our Forests
    Wind power is a promising source of electricity that we need in a green energy mix.  But since my husband’s and my return to Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, I have been learning that giant, commercial-grade wind turbines do not belong everywhere. Â
    As I study the issue, I have come to believe that wind technology is best placed on open plains, on privately owned land.  Wind turbines will do a great deal of harm if they are built atop mountain ridges on national forest land.Â
    To find out why, you can click on the link below to read an open letter to President Obama.  Written by Chris Bolgiano, the author of books and articles on forest ecology, the letter is an excellent primer on appropriate and inappropriate placement of wind turbines.–April Moore Â
http://staffweb.lib.jmu.edu/users/bolgiace/chrisresume/OpenLettertoObama.pdf
February 9th, 2009 at 2:18 pm
Hi April, Great article. I’m appalled at the destruction associated with building those towers. It’s crazy. Enjoyed going to Chris’s web site. I magine she is not too far from you? Todd
April 3rd, 2009 at 7:11 pm
Excellent letter by Chris Bolgiano. Thanks for letting us see it.
I suppose you are familiar with proposals to put wind turbines on Great North Mountain, described at http://www.vawind.org/#GWNF_Project. Apart from this messing up the scenic view, the project could be damaging to wildlife habitat and hazardous to birds. Seems to me that the National Forest should be preserved for nature.
April 30th, 2010 at 5:26 pm
Wind power is a good source of electricity but it also takes up lots of space just like solar power plants.:.-