Using a Landscape Design Conservation Planning Process to Assess and Plan for Wind Energy Development in the Western Great Plains, USA

Landscape design is a conservation planning process that integrates societal goals and values with biological goals, and uses sound science based in landscape ecology to describe future scenarios where specific and measurable... [ view full abstract ]

Landscape design is a conservation planning process that integrates societal goals and values with biological goals, and uses sound science based in landscape ecology to describe future scenarios where specific and measurable biological goals can be attained. The Playa Lakes Joint Venture (PLJV)—a non-profit conservation organization dedicated to conserving the playas, prairies and landscapes of the western Great Plains for the benefit of birds, other wildlife and people—is using landscape design to help conservation partners in their conservation planning decision making. The U.S. Great Plains region has been referred to as the “breadbasket of America” because it provides a high proportion of the agricultural products grown in the U.S. Increasingly the region is being called on to provide a larger proportion of the energy needs of the U.S. as well. In addition to large oil and gas resources, the six states within the PLJV region, all have some of the highest wind energy potentials in the U.S; thus there is a high rate of wind energy development occurring in the region. Yet, this region also provides critical habitat for migrating wetland birds in the Central Flyway so conservation of grassland and playa wetlands in the region are of utmost importance for maintaining populations of these birds. We modeled wind energy development suitability using wind turbine locations from the FAA digital obstruction database and a suite of physiographic, anthropogenic and climate variables to populate the model. The output is a continuous, 30-meter resolution raster surface representing suitability for wind energy development on a 0 to 1 scale. We used similar methods to model risk of agricultural development. We used models developed by Burris and Skagen (2012) to understand playa loss due to climate change. We then evaluated risk of playa wetland loss based on various assumptions of wind, agricultural and climate change risk to determine conservation needs for migrating waterfowl in the region. The results of these models are being used by PLJV and its partners to understand risk of habitat loss on the landscape, how and where to mitigate that risk and to provide guidance to wind energy developers in the region about conservation concerns. Ultimately, the landscape design process allows us to understand the interactions between biological concerns and the economic needs of the region and develop conservation plans that acknowledge both.