49. - Develop a national strategy for wind farm siting that coordinates with conservation goals for the grassland-shrubland steppe wildlife community

In email correspondence with Dwight Fielder, Chief of the Division of Fish and Wildlife at the Bureau of Land Management, he wrote,

• "The BLM uses several approaches to avoid or mitigate environmental impacts of energy development. These include policy development through instruction memoranda (IM), development of planning and NEPA “tools,” training courses and broadcasts, and engagement with other BLM directorates, stakeholders and Tribes."

• "BLM signed a Record of Decision (ROD) for the Wind Energy Development Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) and Associated Land Use Plan Amendments in January of 2006."

• "Issued policy on Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act – Golden Eagle National Environmental Policy Act and Avian Protection Plan Guidance for Renewable Energy (IM 2010-156)."

• "Issued Policy on Pre-Application and Screening - Solar and Wind Energy Applications (IM 2011-061) and Due Diligence - Solar and Wind Energy Applications (IM-2011-060)."

• "BLM formed an interagency Rapid Response Transmission Team (RRTT) to promote improved NEPA compliance for large, complex priority transmission projects designed predominantly to integrate remotely generated wind energy into the national electricity grid."

The USFWS has published voluntary Land-Based Wind Energy Guidelines that minimizes impacts to wildlife and habitat.

In 2005 the Department of the Interior published a Wind Energy Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) that, while not a national strategy, provides an assessment of wind development.

An interview of Melissa Simpson, Director of Government Affairs at the Safari Club International, provided information and direction on this action.

The Western Governors' Association Regional Transmission Expansion Planning takes important steps toward identifying the Western Renewable Energy Zones. These areas are located throughout the Western Interconnection. They feature the potential for large-scale development of renewable resources in areas with low environmental impacts. The stakeholders will continue to work toward refining Western Renewable Energy Zones by implementing additional screens that balance the benefits of renewable energy development with the need to protect wildlife and crucial habitat.

Three DOI bureaus, the Fish and Wildlife Service, Geological Survey, and National Park Service, have recently recommended that research related to wind energy development is high priority in the Upper Midwest.

A joint partnership between the USGS Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center (UMESC) and Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center (NOROCK) was formed to address wind energy impacts on birds with the goal of developing a three-dimensional model to assess wind energy impacts to crane populations at Horicon National Wildlife Refuge (NWR).

In 2010 the partnership secured additional funds through a USGS/BRD Alternative Energy Request proposal. The long-term goal of the program is to develop, validate and implement a scalable landscape (or waterscape) two- and three-dimensional decision support tool that managers can use to assess potential turbine encounter risk and habitat avoidance of birds in areas being considered for wind development.