Prairie Chicken Snippet #1

This is a subject bound to develop into a major controversy. Wind developers seek areas which they consider worthless land. Of course, they want to have a peak amount of wind available so they can generate every available amp watt and volt possible.

I want to support "clean" energy but I also have several gut feelings that Big Money- that never seems to really be very ethical nor really very environmental is now securely in control.

Near Ellesworth, Kansas is a huge wind farm located at least 100 miles away from anywhere. Why? Why do development companies pick these areas which are relatively pristine, and begin the process of ruining them?

These huge wind farms cover 30-60,000 acres. The average person sees them, feels good about them, but does not understand the full implications.

If windfarms are situated on native grasslands- those areas can no longer be burned readily. Prairies need fire to prevent encroachment of trees.

We are not certain of all the implications for prairie chickens and honestly- the current data does not show a clear cut negative. But these studies are only very short term. They do not show the long term trends, which could take 20-30 year to become clear.

However, in my mind the placing of the huge wind farm on the ridges of Sullivan county where the last remnant populations of Greater Prairie Chickens are still hanging on, is foolish and short sighted.

Taller towers could be used to catch the same winds, while being placed on lower ridges or even in the farmed bottomlands which are not so critical to the prairie chickens. The maps of Charles Schwartz's original manuscript are conclusive. The density was highest of all in the northern Missouri counties on the long ridgetops with poor soils. These areas were NOT completely tree free and other grasses like bromegrass, red-top (Agrostis) and timothy were common. All of these are introduced grasses, but prairie chickens and the insects they needed to raise young did fine in them.

In our agricultural communities, trends can spread very quickly. If one farmer makes a bunch of money because he planted soybeans, the next year, 20 farmers will be planting soybeans because they need the success too. It is really hard to make money in farming. Of course, with so many more acres planted in the same crop -the prices rarely reach the same levels as before.

The point is long-term versus short-term.

Long-term the soils that form the basis of all agriculture are fairly poor in Putnam, Sullivan and northern Linn counties. They are well suited for growing grasses and are not productive for row crop agriculture. These counties in the 1940's were the stronghold for a species once numbering in the millions-The Greater Prairie Chicken. As the ornithologist, Mark Robbins recently wrote to me… "is everyone going to just stand around while the species goes extinct?"