Center for Rural Pennsylvania's Board of Directors Approves Research to Study Wildlife-Wind Energy Conflict Areas

The Center for Rural Pennsylvania's Board of Directors yesterday approved a research project that will develop a statewide tool for evaluating potential conflict areas between protected or sensitive wildlife species and commercial windpower developments.

Senator John R. Gordner, chairman of the Center for Rural Pennsylvania, said the research would provide municipalities who are considering permits for wind turbines in their communities with another valuable tool for siting the structures.

Dr. Brian W. Okey of Indiana University of Pennsylvania will conduct the research, which is scheduled to begin in December. The research will focus on areas of the state with Class 4 winds, which are winds that consistently flow at around 16 miles per hour, as these areas are typically sought after by energy developers. Dr. Okey will use a Geographic Information System to link a wildlife sensitivity database with Class 4 wind area data. Municipalities may then use the resulting maps to quickly identify zones, which may have the least impact on wildlife, for wind energy development.

The project was approved during the Center's quarterly board meeting, which was held in Lock Haven, Pa. and hosted by Senator John Wozniak, Center board treasurer, whose 35th Senatorial District includes Clinton and Cambria counties, and parts of Centre, Clearfield and Somerset counties.

At the meeting, Dr. Anastasia Snyder, Dr. Diane McLaughlin and Mary Ann Demi of Pennsylvania State University, updated the board on the longitudinal research project they are conducting on the education and career aspirations of rural students. The project, which is sponsored by the Center, began in 2005, and is following groups of 7th and 11th grade students through high school and beyond.

The Center's board then toured the Wayne Township Landfill, which is operated by the Clinton County Solid Waste Authority. The board learned of the landfill's innovative operating techniques, free tire and household hazardous waste collection events, and recycling and landscape mulch programs.

In addition to Senator Gordner, who serves the 27th Senatorial District, which includes all of Columbia, Northumberland, Montour and Snyder counties and parts of Luzerne and Dauphin counties, and Senator Wozniak, the Center's board also includes; Representative Tina Pickett, who represents the 110th District, which includes Sullivan County and parts of Bradford and Susquehanna counties; Representative Tim Seip, who represents the 125th legislative district, which includes parts of Schuylkill and Berks counties; Dr. C. Shannon Stokes, professor of Rural Sociology in the Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology at Penn State University; Dr. Keith T. Miller, president of Lock Haven University; Dr. Nancy Falvo, director of Clarion University's Health Science Education Center; Dr. Stephan J. Goetz, executive director of the Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development; Dr. Robert F. Pack, vice provost for Academic Planning and Resources Management at the University of Pittsburgh; Steve Crawford, Governor Edward Rendell's secretary for Legislative Affairs; and William Sturgis, executive director of the Pennsylvania Rural Development Council.

The Center for Rural Pennsylvania is a bipartisan, bicameral legislative agency that serves as a resource for rural policy research within the Pennsylvania General Assembly. It was created in 1987 under Act 16, the Rural Revitalization Act, to promote and sustain the vitality of Pennsylvania's rural and small communities.