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WyomingRancher
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Joined: 07 Jan 2007
Posts: 373
Location: Wyoming
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per
Member
Joined: 22 Dec 2007
Posts: 388
Location: SW Alberta
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Oldtimer
Rancher
Joined: 10 Feb 2005
Posts: 15752
Location: Northeast Montana
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per
Member
Joined: 22 Dec 2007
Posts: 388
Location: SW Alberta
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 Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2008 11:05 pm Post subject: |
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| OT, I am a long way from an expert on the subject. I only know of anecdotal evidence from friends who have them on their ranches. I am not sure of what birds get whacked on their heads, just that they pick up dead birds under the towers. I have mixed feelings of the towers. They have lots of positives and negatives. For me the negatives slightly outweigh the positives with all the roads and access and introduction of weeds during construction, and after the awe they become a bit of an eyesore. I'm sure someone here can shed better light on you bird question.
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efb
Member
Joined: 09 Dec 2005
Posts: 328
Location: Northeast Texas
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| Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2008 6:06 am Post subject: odds and end pictures |
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Cars and trucks kill a lot of birds. They are a bit of an eye sore I'll agree. But ,we are sending $700 billion of our wealth per year to the middle east. We can't do that indefinitely.
Thanks for the beautiful pictures
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WyomingRancher
Member
Joined: 07 Jan 2007
Posts: 373
Location: Wyoming
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| Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2008 8:48 am Post subject: |
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| per wrote: |
| OT, I am a long way from an expert on the subject. I only know of anecdotal evidence from friends who have them on their ranches. I am not sure of what birds get whacked on their heads, just that they pick up dead birds under the towers. I have mixed feelings of the towers. They have lots of positives and negatives. For me the negatives slightly outweigh the positives with all the roads and access and introduction of weeds during construction, and after the awe they become a bit of an eyesore. I'm sure someone here can shed better light on you bird question. |
Yep, I acknowledge wind farms aren't perfect. Certainly there may be bird loss, especially with earlier built, lattice designed towers. I live near an interstate highway, and I know for sure that many birds in addition to other wildlife are killed on a continuous basis.
Weeds are a HUGE concern. This ranch has many easements running through it, mostly natural gas pipelines, but also an interstate highway, fiber optic line and railroad. Those disturbed areas definitely have brought in weeds, and we've learned from our past mistakes. Weed control can be addressed in the landowner contract, and some county regulations address them as well. They may even be addressed at the state level if the project is large enough (exceeds 198 million).
Roads are another good point you brought up. Yes, definitely if a project were built, the ranch would be shared with new roads and people. This is another area in the landowner lease that a rancher can address as to limit road construction/size/location. No doubt wind farms would be invasive, especially during construction. However, the ranchers I've visited with, who have wind farms, say they don't have any regrets.
As far as becoming an eyesore, I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and private landowners aren't responsible for providing the public with views their lands provide. There are a few wind farms already built in the area, and I like the looks of them. They sure beat the heck out of another subdivision being planned... and I'm afraid that's what most of the land in this area is destined for. You see, I live in an area considered a continuation of the Colorado front range, and even in these harder times, growth is still occuring. Watching subdivision homes pop up around you is much like watching a horrible cancer spread and take over, depleting water quality, quantity, natural resources and wildlife habitat as it grows.
In a perfect world, no development would occur, and families could all live prosperously off of what the land provides. Times have changed here, and it is getting more difficult to make it work. I see wind farms as a way to provide a domestic source of energy while helping ranchers maintain the use of land for both agriculture and wildlife purposes. No doubt, the extra income a wind farm would provide would be wonderful. I may be fooled, only time will tell, but some sort of alternative besides selling off land for housing needs to be explored, and after being eight years into a drought and faced with ever-rising production costs, myself and my neighbors need another solution  .
Okay, I better quit rambling and go hay  .
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kolanuraven
Rancher
Joined: 27 Jul 2005
Posts: 7467
Location: planet earth
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| Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2008 9:10 am Post subject: |
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| Are you near Point of Rocks....Medicine Bow area of WY?
Last edited by kolanuraven on Sun Jul 13, 2008 2:09 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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jodywy
Member
Joined: 11 Feb 2005
Posts: 901
Location: western Wyoming easternIdaho... Star Valley
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| Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2008 1:21 pm Post subject: |
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| Watching subdivision homes pop up around you is much like watching a horrible cancer spread and take over, depleting water quality, quantity, natural resources and wildlife habitat as it grows |
Love the Valley where I live but the subdivision, and the people that thank me one minute for the open space and the next minute want my cows off the forest. There were over 20 cars and trucks down at the access on the river about a mile from my place yesterday. We don’t have any easements or access to the river. They can float it they just can’t wade or drop anchor while going thru.
plus those willing to buy will pay alot for scenery, and I can buy a ranch that you don't have to run cows from a tractor cab haying all summer and feeding all winter....
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jkvikefan
Member
Joined: 21 Mar 2007
Posts: 56
Location: Northern Illinois
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| Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2008 6:43 pm Post subject: |
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| I'm sure the old timers weren't too fond of power lines , telephone lines ,etc when they went in but the world is a better place with them and we all got used to seeing them every day. I don't think the wind towers look as bad as some of the run down places I drive by that folks can't afford to keep up.
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WyomingRancher
Member
Joined: 07 Jan 2007
Posts: 373
Location: Wyoming
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per
Member
Joined: 22 Dec 2007
Posts: 388
Location: SW Alberta
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| Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2008 8:42 pm Post subject: |
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Yep, I hear you! According to one of our county commissioners, approximately one million acres in Laramie county are in ranchettes, and that number is expected to increase another 4-6% next year. One million acres taken out of ag production and put into housing is an amazing number to me .
It is worse than that. They all have two or three cows. These folks have an outside income and it is not that important that their cows are profitable. On that one million acres there could be 10,000 head adding to the overall cow herd in operations where profit is not required. On the bright side, they plant trees and gardens and become more aware of nature.
Those old timers probably installed those lines in rural electrification programs. For sure an asset, just turn off the power and watch the thin veneer on society peel off. |
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per
Member
Joined: 22 Dec 2007
Posts: 388
Location: SW Alberta
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. I just hope they are bred.
... wind turbines don't have a death loss 
, they cleaned up!
.