News from the Environmental Review Tribunal appeal proceedings
Bill Monture, the traditional Mohawk, is definitely not like the elected chief, Wm. Montour. Their views of wind development are polar opposite. I came into the Tuesday hearing just before noon, in the midst of a presentation by a team member of Bill Monture’s group – Mr.Slaman who culled out some interesting details from the Golder avian report, going so far as to obtain the field notes of the study.To whit:
1) the studies were done not knowing the exact turbine locations (which seem to change innumerable times in every project). This is akin to driving without a map to an unknown destination.
2) as a consequence of #1 above, a lot of observation was done from a car seat, a kind of drive-by reporting style.
3) only migratory routes were taken into consideration, completely ignoring the staging and foraging routes to nearby grain fields so important in the energy diet for waterfowl migration. Something that’s well-known and extensively studied by Long Point waterfowl.
4) natural features that contribute to “funneling” of flight pathways are not considered.
5) there is no mention of the further fragmentation of habitat which will affect feeding and reproduction.
6) the energy cost of “avoidance strategy” is not discussed.
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