A Proposed Wall Of Wind Turbines Across Wyoming

When a wind project is proposed for any given area in the state of Wyoming, most folks think about how it would affect where they can see. Their own backyard, if you will. But what if we took all of the proposed wind projects for the state of Wyoming and stitched them all together? What would the big picture look like? What would the ecological effect be?

Wendy Volk is a real estate agent who lives with her husband on some ranchland north of Ceyenne, Wyoming. She joined me on Wyoming's morning radio talk show to discuss what she sees as the entire corridor faces the possibility of becoming one of the largest industrial zones in Wyoming history, without any government body evaluating the full impact.

You can listen to the entire interview in the audio file below.

From Albany County, there is the 26,000-acre Rail Tie Project. Add to that the Laramie County, and the proposed Laramie Range Industrial Wind Project, which would stretch across 56,000 acres near Horse Creek. Draw your finger across the map up to the Chugwater Energy Project, covering 53,000 acres in Platte County.

You can listen to the entire interview with Wendy Volk in the audio file below.

Each proposed wind project looks small. But put it all together, and you have what Mrs. Volk calls a “Wind Wall.”

If they were all built, the sight of it would stretch 100 miles of continuous landscape of 600- to 700-foot turbines, transmission lines, substations, access roads, and blinking lights.

The environmental impacts would be immense.

The base of an average onshore wind turbine typically extends 6 to 30 feet (roughly 2 to 9 meters) into the ground. These foundations are massive reinforced concrete structures, often 14–20+ meters wide, designed to support towers that average over 100 meters (339 feet) in height.

So many turbines would affect wind flow, water flow, migration corridors, and drive up the already high numbers of bird and bat kills.

Mrs. Volk is attempting to raise awareness of these problems and encourage people to attend meetings, sign an online petition, and organize as a community across the entire affected region.

You can read and sign the Wind Wall Corridor petition at this link.

You can reach Wendy Volk through her social media page at this link.

She gives her phone number at the end of the radio interview.