RENO, Nev. (AP) — The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service confirms another golden eagle has been killed at a Nevada wind farm, and conservationists are demanding federal regulators do something about it.
Agency spokesman Dan Balduini said Wednesday he can’t speculate on how they’ll respond after the second golden eagle in three years was found dead at the Spring Valley Wind Energy facility Pattern Energy owns 250 miles northeast of Las Vegas.
Golden eagles are not endangered but are protected under other laws. Critics say the government let the San Francisco-based company off last time with nothing more than a promise to do better.
Tthe Center for Biological Diversity’s Rob Mrowka says developers have no incentive to make the wind turbines safer if they’re not held accountable for “whacking birds they’re not supposed to be whacking.”
