By David Wojick, CFACT | March 10, 2025
Every land based wind facility in America has a permit to kill a certain number of eagles every year. What these kill numbers add up to is a secret that should be public information. Is it hundreds, thousands or tens of thousands?
Given these numbers we can decide how to limit them. We also need better data on actual kills so it is time to lift the veil on wind power killing eagles.
First the basics. CFACT collegian Maggie Immen puts the issue well in comments on a proposed Wyoming wind facility. She writes this:
“Wind turbines are a documented threat to bird populations, particularly raptors like golden and bald eagles. Estimates suggest that wind farms kill at least 150,000 birds annually in the U.S. alone. Wyoming, a crucial migratory corridor, is especially vulnerable.
The Rail Tie Wind Project, planned for Albany County, would place turbines dangerously close to golden eagle habitats. Wildlife biologist Mike Lockhart, a Laramie resident, warns that official bird fatality counts are likely underestimated since scavengers quickly remove carcasses before they can be recorded.
Adding to these concerns, federal regulations permit a set number of eagle deaths per wind project through incidental take permits. However, experts argue that these limits rely on flawed data that underestimate real mortality rates. Since eagles reproduce slowly, even a small number of fatalities can have devastating effects on their population. Yet regulatory agencies continue approving projects like Rail Tie without adequately addressing these risks.”
See which includes great links to more data.
When it comes to eagles and onshore wind projects there is a glaring deficiency that should be corrected — the killing is unlimited. Every project gets a permit so the total number of allowed deaths just keeps going up and up as more projects come online. Surely this is wrong.
There should be a strict limit to the cumulative total number of kills allowed each year. In the regulatory world this is called a cap on killing. We see something like this sort of cap in the issuance of State hunting licenses for large game. It could be called the wind power bag limit.
The issuance of permits for new wind projects, if any, would be based on the total kills allowed under the existing permits. If this total was less than the cap then permits could be issued in the amount of the difference. These permits might be auctioned off, or allocated by lottery, or something else. The cap on killing needs to be strictly enforced. If a project kills its allotment then it has to shut down for, say, the rest of the year or however the cap is set.
In contrast the Biden Administration made it much easier to get eagle killing permits which were then not enforced. They created what is called a General Permit meaning individual projects did not have to submit lengthy project specific applications. The project basically just registered and paid a nominal processing fee. The requirement that reporting of actual kills had to be monitored by an independent third party was also dropped.
These ill conceived policy changes need to be reversed. The allowable kills need to be limited and the kill reports made accurate.
In addition to the allowable kill numbers the eagle death reports should be made public. People need to know that wind projects in their county or state are killing eagles, where and how many. They also need to know how many more kills are proposed.
Given good eagle kill information we can make informed decisions about capping and reducing these deaths. Lift the veil on wind power killing eagles.
David Wojick, Ph.D. is an inDr. David Wojick is an independent policy analyst and senior advisor to CFACT. As a civil engineer with a Ph.D. in logic and analytic philosophy of science, he brings a unique perspective to complex policy issues. His specializes in science and technology intensive issues, especially in energy and environment.
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