Abstract
Stantec Consulting Services Inc. (Stantec) conducted standardized post-construction bird and bat monitoring at the Laurel Mountain Wind Energy Project (Project) from 1 April to 15 November 2015. The Project is a 97.6-megawatt (MW) commercial wind energy facility including 61 1.6 MW GE XLE turbines and is located on private property leased to AES Laurel Mountain, LLC (AESLM). The Project occupies 13 kilometers (km; 8 miles) of the ridgeline of Laurel Mountain in northeastern West Virginia. The work scope for year 2015 monitoring was developed in cooperation with AESLM, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Elkins Field Office (USFWS), and the West Virginia Department of Natural Resources (WVDNR). During the survey period, Stantec searched 24 Project turbines at a 3-day interval and AESLM staff searched the remaining 37 turbines on a weekly basis.