Mr. Rick Webb of VA Wind, submitted the following comments to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on the Invenergy Beech Ridge Wind Project:

AT Note:  Rick Webb is a Senior Scientist with the Department of Environmental Sciences at the University of Virginia, where his primary research focus is on the effects of air pollution on streams associated with forested mountain watersheds in the central Appalachian Mountain region.  Previously he worked with conservation organizations concerned with the direct environmental effects of coal extraction.  He recently co-authored a Landscape Classification System for Wind Project Siting in Virginia and he presently co-maintains the Virginia Wind Website (www.VaWind.org) , which addresses the need for environmental assessment prior to wind energy development.  He recently served on a National Research Council committee investigating “Environmental Impacts of Wind Energy.”