The plight of prairie chickens is raising concerns for wind energy proponents. Both the Greater and Lesser Prairie Chickens are ground-dwelling birds that inhabit the Great Plains of the United States and are particularly famous for their colorful mating dance .

The Greater Prairie Chicken was almost extinct in the 1930’s due to hunting and habitat loss. It now lives on small parcels of managed prairie land, mostly in the northern Great Plains.  The Lesser Prairie Chicken is found primarily in the southern plains of Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico, and is also but rarely found  in Colorado and Kansas.

The birds are listed as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN Red List of Threatened Species) .

The prairie chickens’ habitats unfortunately also happen to be one of the world’s windiest land corridors. So the prairie chickens now find themselves in the closest proximity to new wind farm development.
And therein lies the problem. Prairie chickens like wide open spaces and do not seem to thrive in the vicinity of wind turbines.

If the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency lists the birds as endangered, there are estimates that  “as much as $11 billions” in wind turbine development could be imperiled

The Obama administration has set its sights on doubling production of energy from renewable sources, including wind, in the next three years to combat global warming by reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Now competing with the administration’s goal is the fate of the prairie chicken.

Further reading:
http://blogs.wsj.com/environmentalcapital/2009/08/25/wyomings-grousing-about-wind-power/

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601085&sid=aldysneqgVeA

Photo: Greater Prairie Chicken
Paul Bolstad, University of Minnesota, Bugwood.org
http://www.forestryimages.org/browse/detail.cfm?imgnum=5189058
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2_wdMmEupQ

Copyright 2009 K.J.Collins