No wind turbines on my watch

I am the owner of nearly 1,000 acres of Palouse soil. Stuart Wilson, my son, is currently farming that acreage.

I have loved the land, every inch of it, since my youngest age, working often with my father and mother, being involved in using the various pieces of farming equipment and in following the practices required. Now, after 87 years, I am doing my best in my official capacity as landlady. As for me, I would never want to disturb my neighbors with ugly usages of my land.

Wind turbine developments being planned are not good for either hard-working farmers nor for the beautiful and bountiful acres that make up the Palouse region.

The landowner directly north of my property, has plans for multitudes of them — 45, I believe. They are a simple step away from seriously down-grading the value of the land beneath them and the value of any nearby houses, including mine and my outbuildings. All will be decreased in value if there is even one 1,000-foot tower whirring in the backyard, sticking up for all to see, having to be maintained with “dirty” oil by way of muddy roads through fields.

The current proposal is for a long line of turbines, from west to east!

And just suppose that in the eras to come, someone wants to build a house or two on my side of that northern border. If the wind turbines are still running (which is highly unlikely), what an eyesore and obstruction they thus become. Seriously downgraded property value is the result.

Because there has never been a fence between my property and the property of this neighbor, his intended line of windmills along the border line would seem to all viewers to be on my property. That’s why I’m adamant these towers must not be allowed to go up. They are not only a visual nuisance but an auditory one, as well, both of which nuisances by the way, are illegal.

The power thus generated (if the wind blows) has to go to a substation by way of very hot wires buried 2 feet below the surface, which might also impede farming on my property. I dare say that plowing can be done to the depth of 2 feet by good farmers.

On said property to the north, the shortest distance to the highway for these wires crosses my fields. That fact, in itself, would be quite intolerable to me.

Apparently, the neighbor cares nothing for how friends and other neighbors are impacted by a totally unannounced agreement with a wind turbine company, made around two years ago.

None of us had any idea of his plan. No one who enjoys the beauty of the Palouse country wants the towers anywhere near their own home yard, you can be sure.

There is plenty of research that has been done concerning what the noisy wind turbines have done to the health and well-being of those who already have been forced to endure the sights, hums and buzzes of the towering structures.

I am proud of our county farmers and residents who are standing against this outrage toward a number of once happy neighbors. Few people want such atrocities, especially near their own homes!

God, alone, gave the current Mader-Wilson Farms and W.R.M. Farms into my care. The same God gave me stewardship over it, with its sweeping views of both Kamiak Butte, which is also being targeted, and Steptoe Butte.

The officials who have some “say” in the matter should not ignore the will of the land caretakers of today. Are these elected officials simply not strong enough to stand against the willful unconcern of big government in our country?

I plead with the officials of Whitman County and the state of Washington! Please do not allow this travesty to further mar the beauty of our county land.

Not on my watch!

— Beverly Mader Wilson is a resident and property owner in Whitman County. She can be reached for comment at [email protected].