While landowner Barton Mines is associated with this effort near Gore Mountain, Reunion Power, their partner, is proposing another production facility for Cherry Valley, in Otsego County's historic Glimmerglass Region, a landscape of national significance.

In both cases, while chasing profitable wind conditions, Reunion Power has failed to recognize the tremendous value that New Yorkers place on their historic and scenic landscapes.

The Barton Mines proposal has a direct impact on land designated as state wilderness. Much of the Cherry Valley project falls within a National and a State Register Historic District listed for its landscapes and historic structures. It is because of siting impacts such as these that general support for this form of renewable energy erodes when specific, poorly sited projects are proposed.

Absent the industry's own recognition of the value of New York state's historic, cultural and scenic resources, planning and regulation at the state level are needed to assure that the advantages of renewable energy development are not offset by poorly located facilities.

The debate over where to locate wind turbines will only grow in urgency. The New York State Energy and Research Development Authority estimates that the state has as much as 3,000 to 5,000 megawatts of wind energy potential. At current turbine capacity of 1.5 megawatts each, this could mean as many as 2,000 to 3,300 industrial-scale towers, each rising 400 feet above the landscape.

Wind developers are active in at least 19 New York counties where the sizes of projects are no longer described by the number of acres, but by the number of square miles they will cover.

New York state has called for alternatives to polluting forms of energy production. While promoting this goal to protect our air, water and health, the state should also craft siting guidelines that protect our historic and scenic resources.

DANIEL MACKAY
Director of Public Policy
Preservation League of New York State
Albany
dmackay@preservenys.org