On Tuesday, May 2nd, I -and many, many others – spoke to the Energy Utilities and Technology Joint Committee of the Maine State Legislature. I was duly impressed by the resolve of the committee to listen to both sides – and listen for nearly 4 hours of testimony. Below is the extended version of my comments (trimmed for the hearing to just barely fit into the three minute time allowance). For information on LD1262 and the fight to protect Monhegan, and the birds that pass through it, I’d recommend following Protect Monhegan via Facebook.
Hello. My name is Derek Lovitch. My wife and I are Pownal residents, owners of Freeport Wild Bird Supply, and field biologists in our previous lives. I am currently also a tour guide, author, and advocate for birds and birders.
I am here today to voice my strong support for LD1262. Unfortunately, I – and many other concerned citizens – are here today to support this legislation because a place we love and a way of life is under threat. While I believe the residents of Monhegan Island are the ones who should speak about the sense of place, quality of life, and socioeconomic impacts of this project, I do feel qualified – both from a degree in Environmental Policy to a career spent sharing the wonders of bird migration with the public – to speak about the threat this project poses to one of the densest concentrations of migratory birds – and birders – in the Northeast.
I personally bring dozens of clients to Monhegan Island each year, often with at least three tours per year a amounting to a minimum of 10-15 days spent on the island each spring and fall enjoying birds, contributing to the economy, and studying the wonders of bird migration.
This year alone, I expect to bring a minimum of 30-35 birders to the island for 3-6 days each, spending money on food, lodging, and let’s be honest: the brewery. I have spent over a decade visiting the island, both personally and professionally. Over that period, I have gotten to know many of the year-round and summer residents of the island, developed friendships, and learned about the trials and tribulations of Monhegan Island life. I am not naïve to the issues beyond birds and birding, nor am I ignorant of the fact that many of the supporters of this project have genuinely good intentions.
Unfortunately, while on Monhegan Island, I, and my clients, are hoping for the conditions that bring migratory birds that are crossing the Gulf of Maine in a broad front to seek shelter on Monhegan Island. Storms, wind shifts with the passage of cold fronts, low clouds and fog, and many other meteorological conditions can force exhausted migrants who find themselves out over open water to seek the nearest piece of land – the proverbial any port in a storm – to rest, refuel, and eventually continue along their epic journey.
However, these conditions also impact a bird’s ability to navigate and lead to disorientation. For reasons we still don’t full understand, when birds lose the ability to navigate by stars, they can become confused by artificial light. Perhaps in an attempt to reorient using the North Star, lights in the sky cause a bird to become confused, circling and circling, after a long flight, metabolizing their very own muscles in an attempt to reach safety and recharge. Unfortunately, countless others keep going until they drop from exhaustion or slam SMACK into a tower or turbine blade.
Think about it: a Blackpoll Warbler winging its way from Alaska sets off from the coast of Maine for an unfathomable 2 ½ day non-stop journey over the open ocean to reach the Lesser Antillies only to become disoriented by a fog bank – an all-to-common feature of the Maine Coast and spends its entire fuel load circling a silly little light placed atop a tower stuck smack dab in the middle of one of the densest concentrations of migratory birds in the region. Or, perhaps it’s even worse to think of a Magnolia Warbler born and raised in Baxter State Park who was one of the lucky ones to survive its winter in a shade-grown coffee plantation in Central America only to start the amazing journey north again a few months later.
Fighting cold fronts, avoiding predators, finding food, avoiding skyscrapers and communication towers, it finds itself drifting over the Gulf of Maine when a rapid-moving cold front exits the Maine coast and suddenly switches that favorable tailwind to a gusting headwind. Exhausted from flying through the night, the sun begins to rise, and the bird begins to desperately look for a place to land.
It descends into the low clouds to find an island, but instead sees a blinking light several hundred feet in the air, and, with the last of its fuel reserves used up, it circles and circles until it drops dead. After all that. It didn’t make it to Monhegan and the birders waiting, binoculars pointed south, anxiously awaiting a fallout on the shores of Lobster Cove.
Birding can be a paradox – we often hope for conditions that are not great for birds, but are good for our chances to see them. Many birders go to bed at night in their lodge on Monhegan hoping for those conditions. I for one, will no longer be able to sleep knowing that the conditions I am waiting for will put the critters we care passionately about at even graver risk because of a boondoggle, a cash-grab of federal subsidies, and a half-baked idea about how to maximize profit while not doing a darn thing to combat the very real and very problematic issue of Climate Change.
Wind power will be part of our energy solution. But it doesn’t work everywhere. In some places, such as Monhegan Island, the costs will far outweigh the promised benefits. This isn’t about solving Climate Change, it’s not about helping the people of Monhegan, and it’s certainly not about minimizing risks. This is about the worst place you can put such a project, from environmental to socio-economic reasons.
Conservation organizations such as the American Bird Conservancy are opposed to this project due to the threat it poses to migratory birds and Federal Endangered species such as the Roseate Tern. I am opposed to this project because it puts the place I love and the birds that find respite here at grave risk.
I for one, and the clients I travel with, will no longer visit the island if this project is built. I cannot fathom going to bed knowing that the conditions I need for a successful birding tour could result in the death of hundreds or thousands of migratory birds that night. No, I will not be able to sleep just so some wealthy family in Connecticut can sleep better with their air conditioner running and their mythological “green energy” credits making them feel OK.
I am not opposed to wind power, but I am opposed to bad ideas. This is a bad idea. The risks are too great, the rewards are too few, and migratory birds will not be saved with free internet. Therefore, I urge the committee to support this bill and let’s develop new energy technologies that will really combat climate change and do them based on sound science, solid math, and in places that minimize risk while maximizing benefits.
I sincerely thank you for your time.
Maine Birding Field Notes 