Abstract
The Deerfield Wind Black Bear Study is an ongoing study to evaluate the impacts of an industrial wind facility on black bear habitat use and foraging behaviors. The study is the result of a condition imposed by the Vermont Public Service Board on Avangrid Renewables as part of their permit for the construction and operation of the Deerfield Wind Energy Project (DWEP). The DWEP is an industrial wind facility that exists within the Manchester Ranger District of the Green Mountain National Forest and is the first industrial wind facility on National Forest in the United States. The DWEP consists of 15 2.0 megawatt turbines with eight turbines placed on a ridge in the town of Searsburg (west ridge) and seven turbines placed on a roughly parallel ridge in the town of Readsboro (east ridge, Figure 1).