Federal land managers say the number of bats killed by wind turbines at a wind farm in White Pine County is down sharply from a year ago.
Paul Podborny of the federal Bureau of Land Management's Ely District Office says 23 bats have died at the Spring Valley Wind Farm so far this year compared with 103 bat deaths over the same time period last year.
He told The Ely Times 533 bats in all were killed by the wind farm's wind turbines in 2013, triple the amount allowed by federal regulators.
He attributes this year's decrease in bat deaths to Pattern Energy's move to increase the wind speed required to spin a wind turbine from 7 mph to 11 mph. Mexican free-tail bats migrate through Spring Valley each year.