California is offering up to $1.5 million in grants for projects to keep golden eagles in three counties from being killed by wind turbines, an energy source blamed for the deaths of thousands of these endangered birds.
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife issued a call April 21 for “high-quality” proposals spanning a wide variety of project types to help protect golden eagles survive in the Altamont Pass Wind Resource Area in the San Francisco Bay Area’s Alameda and Contra Costa counties as well as at the Tehachapi Wind Resource Area in central Kern County.
Proposals can include creating models to assess collision risks and collect/analyze telemetry data on golden eagle movements and their habitat usage. The state is also open to such projects as:
- Conducting golden eagle studies and surveys,
- Evaluating suitable habitats and survival factors, and
- Assessing effective management practices and deterrents.
“Priority will be given to projects designed to support the needed research to better understand how the local golden eagle population is impacted by wind generation and how that affects golden eagles across their range to develop effective management and conservation measures,” the grant notice stated.
Proposals are due July 30, with individual funding awards varying from $10,000 to $1.5 million.
The total funds available are $2.43 million for golden eagle conservation. The money is from California’s share of a final settlement with ESI Energy LLC (a wholly owned subsidiary of NextEra Energy Resources LLC), which entered into a plea agreement with the U.S. District Court’s District of Wyoming for violating the Migratory Bird Treaty Act associated with the “unpermitted take of bald and golden eagles.”
“ESI pled guilty to three counts of violating the MBTA, each based on the documented deaths of golden eagles due to blunt force trauma from being struck by a wind turbine blade at a particular facility in Wyoming or New Mexico, where ESI had not applied for the necessary permits. ESI further acknowledged that at least 150 bald and golden eagles have died in total since 2012, across 50 of its 154 wind energy facilities. 136 of those deaths have been affirmatively determined to be attributable to the eagle being struck by a wind turbine blade,” according to a U.S. Department of Justice press release from April 5, 2022.
A statement was issued April 5, 2022 by Rebecca Kujawa, president and CEO of NextEra Energy Resources and then-president of NextEra Energy Partners, about the agreement between the DOJ and ESI Energy. “The reality is building any structure, driving any vehicle, or flying any airplane carries with it a possibility that accidental eagle and other bird collisions may occur as a result of that activity,” the statement noted. “We have a long-standing and well-earned reputation for protecting our environment and positively co-existing with and supporting wildlife around our facilities, and we have never sited a wind turbine knowing an eagle would fly into it nor have we taken any action in disregard of federal law.”
Golden Eagle Fatalities and Wind Turbines
Concern about bird mortality rates due to wind turbines has long been expressed. The number of fatalities is estimated with varying numbers – and harder to pinpoint with more wind farms being built and likely bird deaths increasing.
Golden eagles casualties are more high-profile than other birds deaths linked to wind energy. A recent statistic about the death rate of golden eagles due to wind turbines was put forth in an Emory University news article in 2023. It estimated that up to three golden eagles die per year at a single wind farm in the United States.
“Golden eagles, like many other raptors, know how to take the path of least resistance. When they spread their wings and take to the skies, they typically look for updrafts (upward pushes of air) which enable them to sustain flight longer by soaring and conserving energy. However, the locations and conditions that enable this kind of flight are also favorable for wind energy generation, increasing the potential of collisions between wind turbines and eagles and other similar animals,” noted the U.S. Department of Energy’s Wind Energy Technologies Office, which has studied mitigation technologies.
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory developed a new software called the Stochastic Soaring Raptor Simulator to predict the long-distance flight paths that golden eagles may take as they ride updrafts.
“Understanding and minimizing the risks to raptors is critical to achieving the nation’s renewable energy production goals. Being able to visualize just how these magnificent creatures might fly around wind power plants will help developers and operators consider how wind turbines and eagle wings can safely share space,” according to an NREL announcement from 2022 about the new predictive software tool.
One objective of the software is to provide wind farm operators with a new mitigation tool.
Federal Protections for Golden Eagles
Golden eagles are protected by three federal laws: the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the Lacey Act.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service states that these laws prohibit possessing, using and selling eagles or their feathers and parts. “A number of other activities, including the transportation of eagles and feathers and parts that have been illegally obtained, are also prohibited under these laws,” USFW says. “The Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act has prohibited take of bald eagles since 1940 and golden eagles since 1962. Take means to pursue, shoot, shoot at, poison, wound, kill, capture, trap, collect, destroy, molest or disturb. Such restrictions help to ensure the future viability of eagles in the wild.”
There are thought to be 30,000 golden eagles, which can live for as long as 30 years in the wild, in the U.S. These rare birds migrate from Canada and northern U.S. locations to areas with milder winter weather.
“Golden eagles tend to migrate during midday, along north-south oriented cliff lines, ridges and escarpments. These topographies offer uplift from deflected winds and help eagles seek out food. Golden eagles will forage during migration flights and use this uplift from heated air, which also comes from open landscapes, to move efficiently during migration and seasonal movements. In doing so, they often glide from one thermal to the next and sometimes move in groups with other raptor species,” USFS notes.
Their wingspans can be as large as 7 feet. Males weigh less than 10 pounds, while females can weigh as much as 14 pounds. Golden eagles tend to avoid urban areas.
Biden-era FWS Updated Eagle “Take” Permits with New Wind, Power Line Conditions
The push to develop renewable energy sources, such as wind energy, was given a boost under the Biden administration’s multiple efforts to meet federal green energy goals. The recognition of eagle deaths as a result of wind turbines can be found in a recent federal regulation. The FWS issued a final rule Feb. 12, 2024 for “Permits for Incidental Take of Eagles and Eagle Nests.”
A take is defined to harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect, or to attempt to engage in any such conduct. This may include significantly changing or degrading habitat if it kills or injures wildlife by significantly impacting essential breeding, feeding, or sheltering.
The stated objective was to improve permitting efficiency and effectiveness with clearer regulations that would also benefit eagle conservation. It also included new “general permit options for qualifying wind-energy generation projects, power line infrastructure, activities that may disturb breeding bald eagles, and bald eagle nest take.” (An incidental take means a foreseeable take happens as an unintentional result of an activity.)
The rule contains new provisions with criteria for incidental eagle takes for permitting wind energy projects and power line infrastructure. It creates a general wind energy permit option for projects in areas that are low risk to eagles. It also says all power line entities are eligible for general eagle incidental take permits. FWS “anticipates increased benefits to eagle populations as more power line entities obtain permits and implement required avoidance, minimization, and mitigation measures.”