The Huron Mountains are “characterized by its boreal vegetation and unusually diverse and pristine habitats. It includes one of the largest remnants of substantially undisturbed old-growth forest in the upper Great Lakes region.”
Report on recommendations for siting Wind Turbines in the Great Lakes States.
The recommendations summarized here represent the first in-depth, evidence-based synthesis of recent scientific information for birds, bats, Great Lakes waters, Great Lakes shorelines, forest, grasslands, inland wetlands, riparian areas, and agricultural lands related to wind energy development in the Great Lakes region. They provide specific guidance for siting and operating wind turbines to minimize impacts on these taxa and ecological systems.
Sites That Should Be Avoided for Siting of Wind Turbines: An Assessment and
- Designated critical habitat or other management areas for threatened or endangered species
- Habitat for rare species (state or federally listed)
Ecoregional and other biodiversity sites identified by The Nature Conservancy, Ducks Unlimited, and others
- Sites with high ranked state or globally ranked species or communities, based on Natural Heritage Program data
- Important lands for biodiversity identified in state wildlife action plans
Habitats particularly sensitive to disturbance such as beaches and sand dunes, wetlands, prairies, and open peatlands
- River mouths with large amounts of annual discharge
- Zones of high aquatic productivity
Table 1. Siting Recommendations.