Thank you for attending the Montana Wind-Wildlife Workshop, hosted by the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks and the American Wind Wildlife Institute (AWWI)! You can find all workshop materials and recordings on this webpage.
Please complete the post-workshop survey to let us know your feedback.
Montana Wind-Wildlife Workshop Details:
Workshop Recordings:
Day 1 (Tuesday, April 27) – Watch the recording
Day 2 (Thursday, April 29) – Watch the recording
Day 3 (Tuesday, May 4) – Watch the recording
Day 4 (Thursday, May 6) – Watch the recording
Advanced Resources:
- Application of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Wind Energy Guidelines, December 2020
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Land-Based Wind Energy Guidelines, March 2012
- Montana Renewables Development Action Plan, June 2018
- Western Flexibility Assessment, Investigating the West’s Changing Resource Mix and Implications for System Flexibility, December 2019
- Recommendations to Reduce Bat Fatalities in Montana, February 2020
Speaker PowerPoints & Supporting Material:
II. Wind Energy in Montana
- Tom Darin, Sr. Director, Western State Affairs, American Clean Power
- Nicole Hughes, Executive Director, Renewable Northwest
III. Wind Project Development Process & Site Selection
- Kristen Goland, Western Region Permit Manager, Avangrid Renewables
- Andrew Pinger, Regional Environmental Senior Manager, EDP Renewables (Part 1, Part 2)
- Sam Milodragovich, Wildlife Biologist, formerly NorthWestern Energy
IV. Wind Permitting in Montana to Site and Operate
- Carolyn Sime, Sage Grouse Habitat Conservation Program Manager, MT Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC) (Part 1, Part 2)
- Craig Jones, Major Facility Siting Act, MT Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ)
- Cory Shaw, Property Management Section Supervisor, DNRC
- Jean Riley, Transportation Planning Engineer, MT Department of Transportation
- Maya Rao, MPDES Permit Writer, MT DEQ
- Supporting Material: Stormwater Construction General Permit Helpful Information
- Kyla Maki, Energy Resource Professional, MT DEQ
- Judd Stark, Project Manager, Catena Consulting
V. Siting Wind and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Wind Energy Guidelines
- Jake Martin, Assistant Field Supervisor, and Jeff Berglund, Fish and Wildlife Biologist, USFWS
- Allison Begley, Avian Conservation Biologist, MT FWP
VI. Overview: Wind Energy Impacts to Wildlife: State of the Science, Research Priorities, and Solutions
- John Lloyd, Associate Director of Research, and Ryan Butryn, American Wind Wildlife Information Center Manager, AWWI (Part 1, Part 2)
VII. Key Species/Taxa: Impacts, Minimization, Compensation
- Dan Bachen, Senior Zoologist, MT Natural Heritage Program
- Kristina Smucker, Nongame Bureau Chief, MT FWP
- Kevin Kritz, Wildlife Biologist, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
- Marco Restani, Energy Biologist, NorthWestern Energy, Kari Soltau, ESA Certified Ecologist, Burns & McDonnell, and Paul Sherman, Mitigation Market Sector Lead, Burns & McDonnell (Part 1, Part 2)
- Chad LeBeau, Research Biologist, Western EcoSystems Technology, Inc. (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4)
- Jill Shaffer, Ecologist, U.S. Geological Survey (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3)
Workshop Description:
The Virtual Montana Wind-Wildlife Workshop will bring together stakeholders from the relevant state, local, and federal agencies in Montana, the wind industry, and the conservation and science community to learn about wind energy and wind-wildlife issues specific to the state of Montana. This workshop will provide presentations, panels, and discussion around:
- Overview of the state of wind energy in Montana
- Considerations for siting and development
- Permitting and approvals in Montana
- Application of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Wind Energy Guidelines
- State-of-the-science on impacts and solutions for relevant species and habitats in Montana
- Robust discussions around cultivating cross-sector communication
- Opportunities for Q&A and connecting with others in the Montana wind-wildlife community
The Montana Wildlife & Wind Energy Virtual Workshop is possible thanks to generous support from NorthWestern Energy; Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks; and the Turner Foundation, and to the input and guidance from the workshop Planning Committee:
- Kristina Smucker, MT Fish, Wildlife & Parks
- Renee Lemon, MT Fish, Wildlife & Parks
- Allison Begley, MT Fish, Wildlife & Parks
- Kyla Maki, MT Department of Environmental Quality
- Cory Shaw, MT Department of Natural Resources & Conservation
- Marco Restani, NorthWestern Energy
- Rene Braud, Pattern Energy
- Jeff Berglund, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
- Jake Martin, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
- Chuck Magraw, Natural Resources Defense Council
- Helen O’Shea, Natural Resources Defense Council
- Jeff Fox, Consultant
- Max Greene, Renewable Northwest
If you have any questions please email cmarshall@rewi.org.