The tour was for Maple Ridge Wind Farm that is located near Lowville in rural Lewis County of upstate New York. This wind project is spread over 21,000 acres of land on a 12 by 3 mile stretch and comprises of 195 wind turbines of 1.65 megawatts capacity each. More information on this project can be found  at http://www.mapleridgewind.com

Before and after the tour, the tour participants were asked to take part in an anonymous poll comprising of the same 12 questions that are most commonly asked. In addition, most of the questions were framed negatively so as to support the argument of a typical wind farm opponent. For example, instead of asking, do majority of people support wind projects, the question asked was, do majority of people oppose wind projects. Below are the findings of the poll results and some of the comments received, both before and after the poll.

1)       Birds: Do wind turbines kill birds?

Preferences	Strongly Yes	Somewhat Yes	Neither      Yes or No	Somewhat No	Strongly No	No Response
Before Tour	18%	21%	16%	18%	24%	0%
After Tour	5%	47%	3%	29%	13%	0%

2)       Property Values: Do wind turbines reduce property values?

Preferences	Strongly Yes	Somewhat Yes	Neither      Yes or No	Somewhat No	Strongly No	No Response
Before Tour	16%	21%	29%	18%	13%	0%
After Tour	3%	13%	21%	24%	37%	0%

3)       Viewscape: Do wind turbines look ugly on landscape?

Preferences	Strongly Yes	Somewhat Yes	Neither      Yes or No	Somewhat No	Strongly No	No Response
Before Tour	8%	24%	11%	32%	24%	0%
After Tour	8%	8%	8%	29%	45%	0%

4)       Agriculture Land: Do wind turbines lead to loss of agriculture land?

Preferences	Strongly Yes	Somewhat Yes	Neither      Yes or No	Somewhat No	Strongly No	No Response
Before Tour	3%	18%	26%	16%	34%	0%
After Tour	0%	13%	5%	29%	50%	0%

5)       Carbon Emission: Do wind turbines increase consumption of fossil fuel for power?

Preferences	Strongly Yes	Somewhat Yes	Neither      Yes or No	Somewhat No	Strongly No	No Response
Before Tour	3%	3%	26%	21%	45%	0%
After Tour	3%	0%	8%	21%	66%	0%

6)       Water Table: Do wind turbines reduce ground water table?

Preferences	Strongly Yes	Somewhat Yes	Neither      Yes or No	Somewhat No	Strongly No	No Response
Before Tour	3%	5%	45%	8%	34%	3%
After Tour	0%	3%	16%	34%	45%	0%

7)       Public Opinion: In your opinion, do majority of people oppose wind turbines?

Preferences	Strongly Yes	Somewhat Yes	Neither      Yes or No	Somewhat No	Strongly No	No Response
Before Tour	3%	16%	39%	37%	3%	0%
After Tour	5%	13%	11%	53%	13%	3%

8)       Noise: Are wind turbines noisy?

Preferences	Strongly Yes	Somewhat Yes	Neither      Yes or No	Somewhat No	Strongly No	No Response
Before Tour	3%	29%	21%	29%	16%	0%
After Tour	3%	16%	5%	34%	39%	0%

9)       Safety: Are wind turbines un-safe?

Preferences	Strongly Yes	Somewhat Yes	Neither      Yes or No	Somewhat No	Strongly No	No Response
Before Tour	3%	8%	26%	34%	24%	3%
After Tour	0%	5%	13%	21%	58%	0%

10)       Economy: Are wind projects bad for local economy?

Preferences	Strongly Yes	Somewhat Yes	Neither      Yes or No	Somewhat No	Strongly No	No Response
Before Tour	3%	3%	26%	21%	45%	0%
After Tour	3%	3%	11%	16%	66%	0%

11)       Municipal: Should local municipal government do more to encourage wind projects?

Preferences	Strongly Yes	Somewhat Yes	Neither      Yes or No	Somewhat No	Strongly No	No Response
Before Tour	32%	24%	26%	11%	3%	3%
After Tour	45%	26%	18%	0%	8%	0%

12)       Co-existence: Do you feel comfortable living in an area that has a wind project?

Preferences	Strongly Yes	Somewhat Yes	Neither      Yes or No	Somewhat No	Strongly No	No Response
Before Tour	37%	24%	16%	18%	3%	0%
After Tour	39%	32%	8%	13%	5%	0%

Comments before the Tour

·          Great idea having a bus tour

·          Many of the questions do not address questions I have. How long to build, size, setbacks, service roads. Question 6, disrupt; Question 11, regulate; Question 12, how close.

·          Thanks for the trip

·          Best locations = more remote offshore areas, in industrial area, road-hydro corridors

·          Alter water flow

·          Will wind turbines reduce the government investment in other methods of power production

·          Question 1 & 4 need re-wording. They kill birds, just not many. They use agriculture land, just not much.

·          Came to see

Comments after the Tour

·          Thank you for this tour, it has helped me to make more knowledgeable decisions

·          A great tour – very informative - thanks

·          Question 11, why local and Question 2, initially

·          Great tour, great speaker

·          You need to do these tours regularly. Very good experience. Questionnaire needs work. Question 7, poor question

·          Bring it on

·          Start building

·          Some of these questions cannot be answered properly without more information

·          Trip was excellent – showed me that we need more info & to discuss with municipality setbacks, taxes and how community (Amherst Island) can benefit, not just the landowners who have signed up.

·          Question 10 and 11, depends – New York is not Ontario

·          Turbines kill some birds, less than coal and nuclear. The majority of people seldom express their opinion, informed or otherwise.

·          That’s for a better look at the wind turbines and understanding

·          Many comments depend on residential or farm property difference