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In April, Washington’s Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council voted to trim the project by half, with restrictions to protect the natural skyline, Indigenous cultural resources and the endangered ferruginous hawk.

In the recent go-round on the Horse Heaven wind project and its diminishment due to the endangered ferruginous hawk, no mention was made of a study conducted in Norway that showed how birds can avoid the wind turbine’s blades.

Ferruginous hawk nests are scattered throughout the area and while many, or perhaps all, of them are empty, the hawks have been known to return to the sites years after the fact.

Because more than 100 of the turbines, which could stand taller than the Space Needle, might pose a danger to a little-known and endangered species in the Tri-Cities area: the ferruginous hawk.

With a wingspan of up to 56 inches, the ferruginous hawk is North America’s largest buteo, a type of medium to large, wide-ranging raptor.