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Wind energy on state land?

To the editor:

DCNR's leaders (Sec. DiBerardinis and Director Quigley) are implying a major concession and retreat from their earlier push to allow goliath wind turbines to be built on a significant portion of state forest lands.

In reality, DCNR has not appreciably altered its stance to push for this commercial development on the vast majority of sites within these publicly owned lands which are coveted by the wind industry.

In a Jan. 4, 2006, letter, Sec- retary DeBerardinis wrote that his agency (DCNR) was working on a process to identify areas of state forest where industrial wind energy development "may be appropriate."

His letter further indicated that areas which were deemed to be appropriate for siting huge wind turbines would involve "at best, perhaps a percent or two of state forest lands . . ."

The majority of suitable sites for industrial wind energy development which occur on state forest lands are not located within the 13-county area enveloping the region known as Pennsylvania Wilds. Still, DCNR's announcement fails to address or clarify whether DCNR would allow the extensive infrastructure associated with utility-scale wind energy projects (e.g., power line rights-of-way, access roads, etc.) to occur on state forests and parks within the "Wilds" region.

Allowing development infrastructure on these lands would greatly facilitate the siting of huge wind turbines on private holdings and parcels adjoining state forests and parks within the extensive area covered by the governor's Pennsylvania Wilds initiative.

Dan Boone National Wind Watch