Endangered Indiana Bat Found Dead at Ohio Wind Facility; Steps Underway to Reduce Future Mortalities

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife have confirmed that an endangered Indiana bat was found dead at the Blue Creek Wind Farm near Van Wert, Ohio. Blue Creek Wind Farm, LLC, a subsidiary of Iberdrola Renewables, LLC notified the Service and ODNR that a bat carcass was found at the facility and was preliminarily identified as an endangered Indiana bat. The bat carcass was located during post-construction monitoring that has occurred since April 2012 as part of the company’s evaluation of the facility's effects on birds and bats. The bat was confirmed by the Service to be a female Indiana bat. This mortality is the fifth known mortality of an Indiana bat at a wind facility, to date. Other mortalities of Indiana bats have been documented at wind energy facilities in Indiana, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.