I drove out to the Pawnee Buttes yesterday evening to try and catch the sunset and full moonrise. Heavy cloud cover to the west and east put a damper on my hoped for results. Didn't get back home until 10:30PM so I don't have any photos to show yet, but wanted to share some observations.
The Pawnee Grasslands haven't greened up much yet. Also, there almost no wildflowers in bloom yet. This time last year, the grassland was much greener and much more in bloom. As some of you may know, Excel (I think) has been installing wind powered generators/turbines thingys in this area recently. This time last year a few could be scene but it was easy to compose a shot without them being visible. Well in the past year, they have erected a lot more of them out there. Unless you are looking due east or south when photographing the Buttes, they are gonna be in your shot. I had a favorite shooting location that allowed me to look towards the north and get some nice side lighting on the Buttes. That's now kaput. I guess they figured most everyone would view the Buttes from the one established viewpoint (looking due east), and so kept the structures clear of that viewing direction. To view the Buttes looking to the south would require a long hike from the established trailheads. In a nutshell, it now doesn't look and feel as lonely and untrammeled by man out there as it used to.
I guess they figured most everyone would view the Buttes from the one established viewpoint...
My guess is, that didn't figure into it at all. They just saw those bluffs up there, and figured they'd catch the wind best from that location. When I made my first ever trip up there last week, I counted somewhere around 200 windmills on the horizon. Very disconcerting. Visual pollution, through and through.
Thanks for the update, Doug. You may have saved me a trip as I was wondering how the wildflowers were doing.
For being such a unique habitat, I sometime wonder if the Forest Service cares much about what goes on out there. I know it's an exaduration, but can you imagine the rucus if they put wind towers around Maroon Bells. Also seems like what ever grazing permits are given out have turned much of the short grass prairie into stubble grass prairie.
To me, this army of turbines is so visually overbearing that it has just about ruined my enjoyment of the place. You can't even get a break from them at night, as they have flashing red lights on them. It's still possible to find some compositions, but the options are much more limited now.
2 years ago I was a member of a study group put together by the Forest Service and facilitated by faculty from one of our local universities and windmills weren't even mentioned as one of the threats!
One problem that was discussed was that nearly half of the prairie dogs were infected with plague...be careful out there.
You can't get the plague without direct contact - the fleas stay with the host. I frequently crawl around in
P' dog towns. If they get the sylvatic plague, the whole colony dies out. I wouldn't want my dog sticking her nose in a burrow, though.
The wind turbines, while providing green energy are not only an eyesore; but a major threat to bird migration routes. Concerns voiced by conservationists have been ignored and we are only seeing the tip of the iceberg. One can't blame a private landowner for allowing wind turbines on his land ~ at $4K/year, per turbine, that's a significant income boost in a place where it's hard to make a living.
I went out there last year and knew the turbines were going to be a bit limiting, but I didn't think they'd be as bad as you're describing. Hope I can get up there soon to survey the "damage".
Dave, depending in the size of the turbine, they might pull in significantly more than $4k/yr. Oilman T. Boone Pickens is investing in a huge windfarm effort in Texas; he estimates $20k/yr. per turbine in royalties for the mondo-sized GE turbines he's funding. You can put 4-5 per section of land, so a commercial farmer stands to make significant cash...
Discussion
6 repliesThe Pawnee Grasslands haven't greened up much yet. Also, there almost no wildflowers in bloom yet. This time last year, the grassland was much greener and much more in bloom. As some of you may know, Excel (I think) has been installing wind powered generators/turbines thingys in this area recently. This time last year a few could be scene but it was easy to compose a shot without them being visible. Well in the past year, they have erected a lot more of them out there. Unless you are looking due east or south when photographing the Buttes, they are gonna be in your shot. I had a favorite shooting location that allowed me to look towards the north and get some nice side lighting on the Buttes. That's now kaput. I guess they figured most everyone would view the Buttes from the one established viewpoint (looking due east), and so kept the structures clear of that viewing direction. To view the Buttes looking to the south would require a long hike from the established trailheads. In a nutshell, it now doesn't look and feel as lonely and untrammeled by man out there as it used to.
My guess is, that didn't figure into it at all. They just saw those bluffs up there, and figured they'd catch the wind best from that location. When I made my first ever trip up there last week, I counted somewhere around 200 windmills on the horizon. Very disconcerting. Visual pollution, through and through.
For being such a unique habitat, I sometime wonder if the Forest Service cares much about what goes on out there. I know it's an exaduration, but can you imagine the rucus if they put wind towers around Maroon Bells. Also seems like what ever grazing permits are given out have turned much of the short grass prairie into stubble grass prairie.
One problem that was discussed was that nearly half of the prairie dogs were infected with plague...be careful out there.
P' dog towns. If they get the sylvatic plague, the whole colony dies out. I wouldn't want my dog sticking her nose in a burrow, though.
The wind turbines, while providing green energy are not only an eyesore; but a major threat to bird migration routes. Concerns voiced by conservationists have been ignored and we are only seeing the tip of the iceberg. One can't blame a private landowner for allowing wind turbines on his land ~ at $4K/year, per turbine, that's a significant income boost in a place where it's hard to make a living.
Dave, depending in the size of the turbine, they might pull in significantly more than $4k/yr. Oilman T. Boone Pickens is investing in a huge windfarm effort in Texas; he estimates $20k/yr. per turbine in royalties for the mondo-sized GE turbines he's funding. You can put 4-5 per section of land, so a commercial farmer stands to make significant cash...