Blowing in the wind: evaluating wind energy projects on the national forests

The 650 million ac of federal lands are facing increased scrutiny for wind energy development. As a result, the US Forest Service has been directed to develop policies and procedures for siting wind energy projects. We incorporate geospatial site suitability analysis with applicable policy and management principles to illustrate the use of a Spatial Decision Support System (SDSS) for evaluating the potential for wind energy development in the national forests. The SDSS is applied in a case study of the Nantahala and Pisgah National Forests (NP last accessed Mar. 14, 2009). Our analysis further evaluates the N&PNF potential for wind energy development using 16 environmental, construction, land designation, and policy variables. We find that the majority of the N&PF is highly sensitive or exclusionary to wind energy development. Recommendations include the need for agencywide clarification of evaluation criteria for wind energy projects and prioritization of variables for evaluating future wind projects.