CAMP PERRY WIND TURBINE CONCERNS

The Camp Perry facility itself includes wooded areas near the Lakeshore that provide important stopover habitat for migratory songbirds. The site also lies directly between the Darby Unit of Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge and the Navarre Marsh, site of BSBO's primary songbird banding research station, where we have banded more than 500,000 songbirds over the last 20+ years. In other words, the site lies deep within one of the most sensitive migration stopover habitats in the Midwest. Many birders are familiar with the Camp Perry site since the public access beach on the facility provides important habitat for migratory shorebirds. Local bird enthusiasts are also likely to recognize the facility as home to an active Bald Eagle nest visible from State Route 2.

BSBO filed for all relevant documents from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), and from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources under the Sunshine Law. The documents show that both our federal and state wildlife agencies have listed multiple reasons why this site is not suitable for wind turbines. Reasons cited in these documents include, but are not limited to:

- The site’s proximity to an active Bald Eagle nest

- The high number of Bald Eagles that have been documented
   using the area

- The site lies deep within a highly sensitive area for migrating
   passerines, waterfowl, shorebirds, and raptors

- The site poses high potential for impact on the Federally
   Endangered Kirtland's Warbler and Piping Plovers

- The site is part of a National Audubon designated Important
   Bird Area

- The site is part of a Partners In Flight designated Globally
   Important Bird Area

- The site is part of a Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve
   Network designated area of Regional significance for
   shorebirds

* And most recently, in their comments evaluating the final Environmental Assessment (EA), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Ohio Department of Resources basically shred the EA, collectively calling out close to 50 erroneous and misleading statements in the document.

BSBO is not saying no to wind energy; rather, we have expressed a sincere willingness to work with any and all stakeholder groups to develop alternate sites and alternate technologies that will allow us to support Responsible Wind Energy. We are asking for your support of our position. Since the facility is part of the Department of Defense, there are some issues that we fear could allow them to proceed with this project in spite of the overwhelming comments against it expressed by the state and federal wildlife agencies.