Abstract
Smallwood and Spiegel (2005) provided an assessment of key mitigation measures proposed by WEST, Inc. on behalf of the wind turbine owners in the Altamont Pass Wind Resources Area (APWRA). That assessment of the selective turbine removal relied on significant associations between fatalities and measured environmental variables, as reported in Smallwood and Thelander (2004) and Smallwood and Neher (2005). WEST, Inc. suggested the wind turbines recommended for removal/relocation by Smallwood and Spiegel (2005) included a disproportionately large number of large wind turbines, and that the tests for association in Smallwood and Thelander (2004) should be performed again, this time including rotor swept area in the sampling effort term. We concurred that incorporating turbine size into the sampling effort term might result in different associations, and a different distribution of wind turbines in the top tiers of priority candidates for shutdown/relocation. Seawest then requested that we explore whether including turbine size will result in a more equitable distribution of wind turbines recommended for selective shutdown/relocation. This staff report summarizes our effort to this effect.