Where would I find topo maps showing wind farm clear cuts for pads and esp. transmission lines.

If I had a map of the amount of forest removed for turbine pads, access roads, and transmission lines I can calculate the impact on the atmosphere, esp. loss of CO2 conversion, and on the watershed and aquifer.

This would be a focused environmental impact statement prohibited under current siting legislation; and if my early calculations are right, that the CO2 no longer removed by photosynthesis is greater than the carbon offsets. iHYDRO software and possibly the Canadian software, RETSOFT can calculate the losses using a  calculator based on individual trees, biomass and values for each tree lost; so it gets to be a fairly accurate assessment. 

These are significant losses and when you add them to environmental factors like loss of habitat; increased surface runoff; decreased ability of tree roots to cleanse and deacidify rain water which in turn affects the quality of water in Maine's fabled aquifers, and herbicide build up under transmission lines you get some powerful arguments against wind farms.  I've made them in general, but a specific finding for one farm with new ROW would be a very damning case against more and expanded wind farms.

Living next to Bowdoin College, one can see even the 'greenest' of institutions clear-cut mature trees, with abandon---no offsets, just a new foundation. Even more ironically, their new 'ecology' center removed a number of large trees. Brunswick just allowed a new development a few blocks away which clear cut a large amount of mature forest and the ever-so-green town council didn't blink.

REFERENCES:  

https://www.itreetools.org/resources/reports/HydroWorcesterMA_afili...

https://www.itreetools.org/resources/content/Hydro_factsheet.pdf ; ***note future enhancements.

https://www.mikepoweredbydhi.com/products/mike-hydro-basin ;  *water basin impact

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNJE2-fqqZg ;  **video

https://www.itreetools.org/resources/content/WEFTEC2016_W24_Flyer.pdf ;   **part of the 89
th annual Water Environment Federation Technical Exhibition and Conference:   This workshop will explore the hydrologic effects of Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI) & urban land cover, and how we can use i-Tree Hydro, an accessible hydrology model with robust comparative assessment capabilities, to empower our work as water resource professionals. 

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Comment by Frank J. Heller, MPA on October 3, 2018 at 10:29am

There is a new 'tool' for measuring CANOPY COVER and effect on carbon uptake.

Learn about it here:  https://canopy.itreetools.org/

Comment by Frank J. Heller, MPA on October 3, 2018 at 10:19am

Bull Hill seems to have a lot of forest removed; but Maine forest lands from the air always look machine groomed...Bull Hill appears to be raked. I'm also not getting topo, and transmission lines are invisible. Next two weeks I'll plunge into this and consult with a GIS expert on how to determine the before and after impact on forest. 

Comment by Frank J. Heller, MPA on October 3, 2018 at 9:52am

ERIC...probably worse case....biggest footprint, longest and widest transmission line R.O.W.  Had a client who lived near Woodstock and CMP(?) shredded a mature forest, it was mowed, removing a lot of biomass. 

Comment by Eric A. Tuttle on October 3, 2018 at 9:13am

This file can be downloaded and opened by Google Earth.

It is full of Topo maps from around the world, however I found that most of Maine was

either dated 1954 or 1967. Other than terrain, not much use for your quest.

http://www.desert-info.ch/download/pdf/Google/USArmymaps.kmz

Comment by Eric A. Tuttle on October 2, 2018 at 4:34pm

Is there any specific location that you are seeking these Topo Maps?

Comment by Eric A. Tuttle on October 2, 2018 at 4:31pm

First link. All Turbines in the U.S.A 2018 [zoom in]

https://eerscmap.usgs.gov/uswtdb/viewer/#3.64/38.77/-95.72

Topographical maps. [Zoom in]

https://www.arcgis.com/home/webmap/viewer.html?useExisting=1&la...

This is about the best level I can get online. Though not really up to date on what had been clearcut in Bingham before the Wind Project came to be. 

Comment by Frank J. Heller, MPA on October 2, 2018 at 1:26pm

A site and transmission ROW map can be placed under a Google EARTH photo, pre and post tree removal. Estimates using densities of surrounding forest and types of trees can be put into the estimates and defended as 'best possible' information since the permit DOES NOT require an impact assessment that would count, measure and catalog trees by species. 

Clear-cuts need better 'emotional' definition of the harm from runoffs, missing oxygen and pollution removal, and harm from habitat removal. 'Paint' a picture using quantifiable data as available.

I really want to take out the profit, by subtracting lost carbon storage from the carbon credits. 

Comment by Eric A. Tuttle on October 1, 2018 at 9:39pm

In Maine there are approximately 238 trees per acre on average (Use to be may be a more correct figure) with each mature tree absorbing about 48 pounds of carbon per year. (larger trees even more) Emitting (unknown) Oxygen to sustain an average of 2.2 people per year. Or about 523.6 people for a year. Not to mention other plantlife that emits Oxygen and absorbs Carbon from the CO².

As for Topographical Maps, I would agree that they are not updated to indicate forested lands in a proper manner. Even Google Earth does not distinguish between Scrub growth and tree growth. Only fields can be distinguished along with recent clearcut.

 

Comment by Brad Blake on October 1, 2018 at 2:49pm

Top maps don't get updated frequently enough to have the scars of industrial wind development imposed on them.  Your best bet would be Google Earth satellite images, as every freaking one of them show clear as hell.  Does the software to which you refer analyze photos to show percent of clearcut or very low vegetation versus the forest that surrounds?

 

Maine as Third World Country:

CMP Transmission Rate Skyrockets 19.6% Due to Wind Power

 

Click here to read how the Maine ratepayer has been sold down the river by the Angus King cabal.

Maine Center For Public Interest Reporting – Three Part Series: A CRITICAL LOOK AT MAINE’S WIND ACT

******** IF LINKS BELOW DON'T WORK, GOOGLE THEM*********

(excerpts) From Part 1 – On Maine’s Wind Law “Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine if the law’s goals were met." . – Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, August 2010 https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/From Part 2 – On Wind and Oil Yet using wind energy doesn’t lower dependence on imported foreign oil. That’s because the majority of imported oil in Maine is used for heating and transportation. And switching our dependence from foreign oil to Maine-produced electricity isn’t likely to happen very soon, says Bartlett. “Right now, people can’t switch to electric cars and heating – if they did, we’d be in trouble.” So was one of the fundamental premises of the task force false, or at least misleading?" https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-swept-task-force-set-the-rules/From Part 3 – On Wind-Required New Transmission Lines Finally, the building of enormous, high-voltage transmission lines that the regional electricity system operator says are required to move substantial amounts of wind power to markets south of Maine was never even discussed by the task force – an omission that Mills said will come to haunt the state.“If you try to put 2,500 or 3,000 megawatts in northern or eastern Maine – oh, my god, try to build the transmission!” said Mills. “It’s not just the towers, it’s the lines – that’s when I begin to think that the goal is a little farfetched.” https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/flaws-in-bill-like-skating-with-dull-skates/

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Hannah Pingree on the Maine expedited wind law

Hannah Pingree - Director of Maine's Office of Innovation and the Future

"Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine."

https://pinetreewatch.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/

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