To the editor:

Your front page article of Nov. 23 on commercial wind energy in the Flint Hills (“Plan would limit wind energy farms”) seriously misstates some critical facts and fails to tell some of the most important parts of the story.

The misstatements start with the lead, by saying that the governor “put a prime piece of potential wind energy off-limits.” Readers of other papers might note that the governor has put forward proposed legislation that would end state subsidies for wind-turbines in prairie areas. That’s much different than a dictatorial ban.

None of the groups that have worked for years to preserve the Flint Hills are mentioned by name. The Tallgrass Ranchers, Protect the Flint Hills, Audubon of Kansas and the Kansas Wildlife Federation are conspicuous by their absence. This makes the governor’s decision seem erratic and arbitrary, rather than a reflection of the intense concern and passion from thousands of Kansans.

The most serious misstatement in the story comes from the subhead, “Mapping ignored.” Even a cursory examination of the state’s recent photo map of the Flint Hills shows that Morris and Chase counties are the heart of America’s last tallgrass prairie. Rather than ignoring the map, the governor’s proposal is a logical outcome of the mapping project.

While it’s true that JW Windpower and Pinnacle Technologies are disappointed, people who love the prairie chicken, migrating birds and the Flint Hills have cause for celebration. It’s too bad readers of your story would never know why.

Daniel Ward,

Kansas Wildlife Federation,

Topeka