Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is the American Wind Wildlife Institute?
2. How did AWWI come into existence?
3. Who comprises AWWI's Board of Directors?
4. Who are the Founding Members of AWWI?
5. Who is in charge of AWWI now?
6. What are the AWWI “Keys to Success”?
7. What is AWWI’s role with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s FACA Process?
8. What will AWWI do to make sure that various state wind siting guidelines are followed?
9. What is the purpose of AWWI’s mapping tool?
10. What research activities will AWWI pursue to try and address the wind industry’s wildlife problems, notably regarding impacts to birds and bats?
1. What is the American Wind Wildlife Institute?
The American Wind Wildlife Institute is a first-of-its-kind collaborative 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in December 2007 by 20 of the nation’s top science-based conservation and environmental groups and wind energy companies.
AWWI’s mission is to facilitate timely and responsible development of wind energy while protecting wildlife and wildlife habitat. AWWI accomplishes its mission through research, mapping, mitigation and public education on best practices in wind farm siting and wildlife habitat protection.
2. How did AWWI come into existence?
The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) Siting Committee developed the concept of AWWI as a means to address regional rather than site-specific issues related to wind development and wildlife/habitat protection.
In June 2007, AWEA’s Board of Directors approved the development of AWWI as a stand-alone 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. The initial funding commitment has come from a variety of wind companies and NGOs, resulting in an operating budget of $3 million for its first two years.
3. Who comprises AWWI's Board of Directors?
Genevieve Thompson,chair, Audubon Dakota
Jan Blittersdorf, vice chair, NRG Systems
Rich Rayhill, Ridgeline Energy
James Walker, enXco
Ed Lowe, GE Energy
Stu Webster, Iberdrola Renewables
Johanna Wald, Natural Resources Defense Council
Alan Pollom, The Nature Conservancy
Peter Frumhoff, Union of Concerned Scientists
Jeffrey Vonk, Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies
4. Who are the Founding Members of AWWI?
The following companies and NGOs comprise AWWI's founding membership: AES Wind Generation, Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, Pattern Energy, BP Wind Energy, Clipper Windpower, E.ON, Environmental Defense Fund, enXco, GE Energy, Horizon Wind Energy, Iberdrola Renewables, National Audubon Society, Natural Resources Defense Council, NRG Systems, RES Americas, The Sierra Club, The Nature Conservancy, Union of Concerned Scientists, and Vestas Americas.
5. Who is in charge of AWWI now?
In June, 2009, the AWWI Board of Directors Dr. Judd A. Howell as AWWI’s Director of Research and Evaluation. Judd is the former director of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, where he managed a broad, multi-disciplinary program of biological research, inventory and monitoring, and information management. Judd led a comprehensive research program to examine the impacts of wind energy development on birds that led to 17 reports and papers to industry from 1987 to 1997, some of which are recognized as pioneering work in this field.
Matt Kireker began as an intern at AWWI in March, and became Program Manager in July, 2009. He worked on the Obama presidential campaign in the Iowa caucuses and four other states during the primaries and as Regional Political Director for northern Nevada in the general. AWWI is the second manifestation of Matt’s passion for environmental issues, having interned with the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works in the summer of 2005.
Abby Arnold is Executive Director of AWWI as well as Vice President and Senior Mediator at Kearns & West. Abby has facilitated and managed numerous collaboratives, including the National Wind Coordinating Collaborative since its inception and is currently the facilitator for the Secretary of Interior’s Wind Turbine Advisory Committee. She brings over twenty years of experience leading consensus building and strategy for collaboratives and agreement focused negotiations for the private sector, non-profits, and policy makers.
6. What are the AWWI “Keys to Success”?
AWWI is an organization dedicated to the highest standards and transparent operation, inspiring trust amongst its collaborators (NGO, industry and government agency members) and resulting in proactive leadership in addressing wind siting and wildlife issues.
7. What is AWWI’s role with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s FACA Process?
AWWI does not have a role in this process. AWWI attends meetings as an interested party along with all other members of the public and other interested organizations.
8. What will AWWI do to make sure that various state wind siting guidelines are followed?
AWWI does not endeavor to play a police role in the multiple state wind siting guidelines that exist or are being formulated. Rather, AWWI seeks to deliver products from its four initiatives that will enable policy makers to make informed decisions as they contemplate expansion of the wind industry.
AWWI envisions providing stakeholders such as the FAC with guidance and information that better enables such groups to reach agreement on wind energy development policy.
9 What is the purpose of AWWI’s mapping tool?
The Wind and Wildlife web application is a collaboration organized by the American Wind Wildlife Institute (AWWI) and The Nature Conservancy (TNC). TNC was selected for this collaboration via a competitive bidding process overseen by a neutral expert review panel. This application is designed as a landscape-level planning tool to identify sensitive wildlife habitat and areas that are likely to have low wildlife risk where wind energy development could be prioritized. Although the siting of individual wind energy projects will require on-the-ground surveys to verify data shown in the mapping tool, our hope is that this tool will provide stakeholders with information that facilitates the siting of wind energy in areas with minimal impacts to wildlife, as well as the development of conservation plans, monitoring plans and mitigation strategies. The landscape-scale perspective of this tool limits its utility to identifying potential issues and concerns for consideration during site-specific planning for wind energy development; it is not intended to take the place of site-specific surveys nor to inform final siting or policy-related decisions.
10. What research activities will AWWI pursue to try and address the wind industry’s wildlife problems, notably regarding impacts to birds and bats?
AWWI has helped to fund the research and development of an ultrasonic bat deterrent from the Bat and Wind Energy Cooperative, and actively undertakes the process of evaluating other research proposals when solicited. AWWI is also in the early stages of outlining the development of a wildlife data-repository for wind pre and post-construction monitoring studies. As AWWI evolves it envisions working collaboratively to address regional and national-scale issues and concerns through best available science and high class research.