Star-Tribune Editorial Board

A new report by an environmental group should be a good resource to help wind energy developers in Wyoming locate the best potential sites for commercial projects.

The Biodiversity Conservation Alliance's "Wind Power in Wyoming: Doing It Smart from the Start" is a groundbreaking study that could aid wind farm development by showing where it is a good idea, where there may be problems, and where it should be off limits.

Think about how valuable a similar study might have been at the beginning of the first oil and gas boom in the state, and you get an idea how essential it could be for landowners and developers of wind power.

It's important to note that Biodiversity isn't trying to throw up roadblocks to wind energy. The group recognizes wind as a clean, renewable source of electricity that could help reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. If the nation is going to address man-made causes of global climate change, wind power needs to be part of the solution, and Wyoming should be leading the way.

But it makes sense to first look at the places in Wyoming where there is both strong wind potential and few, if any, resource conflicts, including the migration of raptors and bats, habitat for threatened species, and impairment of prominent viewsheds.

These are the places where large-scale wind power generation should start. In cases where transmission lines are limiting, the group adds, these are the areas where transmission capacity should be built first.

"There are about 5 million acres of these 'green' areas, more than 4 million acres of which have commercial wind power potential - more than enough space for commercial wind power development in the near future," the Biodiversity report states.

Another organization, the Landowners Association of Wyoming, points out that the Biodiversity report doesn't include a map showing whether land ownership is federal, state or private. The group's president, Laurie Goodman, says if Biodiversity is going to advocate for locations where wind energy should or shouldn't be pursued, it should also identify which private landowners might be affected by "the potential taking away of that development."

That's something the Landowners Association, using Biodiversity's information, should probably do on its own to benefit its members. For its part, Biodiversity recognizes that much of the area most favorable for wind energy development is private land.

"The property rights of landowners will have to be respected," the report notes, "because unlike oil and gas development, wind power development always requires the consent of the landowner.

"By presenting areas of environmental sensitivity as well as the location of promising wind resource areas with few environmental conflicts, we foresee an ability for the wind industry, private landowners, and government officials to steer wind development in Wyoming into areas that are noncontroversial and where impacts on land and wildlife are minimal," Biodiversity concludes.

With wind energy, Wyoming has an opportunity to avoid many of the public squabbles and legal battles that have marked the state's oil and gas development. That's clearly in the best interest of Biodiversity, but it's also the best potential outcome for everyone in Wyoming.