US WIND FARCE wins approval for 500 wind turbines along the Allegheny Front

12 January 2005 - ELKINS, W. Va. - Hugh Jim Bissell, CEO of US Wind Farce announced today that the way is clear for the construction of 500 wind turbines along the crest of the Allegheny Front. "We had our eye on the Allegheny Front for a long time, but the breakthrough was the recent change in the rules for approving new projects in the National Forests. District supervisors have more authority to bypass time-consuming environmental studies and public input."

Bissell went on to say that private land owners had already signed leases, and the only obstacle was the Forest Service.

"Since most of the turbines will be sited on the Monongahela National Forest, we needed to get the district supervisor on board. A few of our directors know the supervisor pretty well and made a forceful presentation of the project's benefits to him."

Meg Watts, spokeswoman for US Wind Farce said that the clincher for approval was the offer to install floodlights on the towers to be aimed on the access road below. With 10 towers to the mile, the access road would be fully illuminated for its entire length.

"The district supervisor really liked the idea of being the first in the nation to have a lighted hiking trail in a National Forest to accommodate all the night hikers. Ordinarily, we don't like to have people walking anywhere near our facilities but since it's National Forest land we'll make the best of it. The district supervisor also liked our offer because it makes the entire Allegheny Front, with its magnificent views, accessible to four-wheelers, snowmobiles, golf carts, dirt bikes, hikers and joggers, and of course, our service vehicles."

According to Ms. Watts, the access road will be known as the Allegheny Front Trail and will extend from where Rt. 42 crosses the Allegheny Front near Scheer, in Grant County, to 50 miles south at the Pendleton County line, where Rt. 28 crosses Elk Mountain.

Because US Wind Farce is making only nominal payments for its leases, other concessions were made to sweeten the deal. The company will construct campsites with comfort stations at every 20th tower. Electrical service outlets will allow campers (and hikers) to power small appliances or recharge batteries. Vending machines will also be available with snacks for the bears.

In the unlikely event that the wind doesn't blow, battery-powered emergency lighting will kick in, giving the night hikers time to make it to the next tower where they can then take one of the free emergency flashlights, made especially for US Wind Farce. These flashlights are powered by a small propeller enclosed in a tube on the back end.

By merely blowing into the tube, a hiker can continue to illuminate the path ahead. This will be particularly helpful during a prolonged, windless time when the backup emergency lighting would eventually fail.

To placate environmentalists, US Wind Farce also agreed to shut down the turbines during daylight hours so that migrating hawks and other birds could have safe passage. This will occur from Sept. 4 - Sept. 8 and from Apr. 12 - Apr. 14. Bird identification charts will be posted at each tower so that neophyte ornithologists can easily identify the carcasses found there.

Hugh Jim Bissell ended the news conference by saying, "This is a win-win situation for the National Forest and energy consumers. You can watch videos of Wild Kingdom on your big screen TV or you can get out into the wild on the new Allegheny Front Trail - both made possible by US Wind Farce."