ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP CONCERNS FOSTER NATIONAL AND STATE-LEVEL ENERGY POLICIES TO STIMULATE ALTERNATIVE ENERGY DEVELOPMENT TO REDUCE DEPENDENCE ON FOSSIL FUELS. DEVELOPMENT OF WIND ENERGY OFFERS ONE PROMISING AVENUE.LIKE OTHER ALTERNATIVE ENERGY, FROM BIOFUELS TO SOLAR, WIND ENERGY MAY PARTICULARLY AFFECT RURAL COMMUNITY CHARACTER, INCLUDING CULTURAL AND AESTHETIC ECOSYSTEM SERVICES, DUE TO CHANGES IN THE LOCAL LANDSCAPE, FRAGMENTATION OF LAND COVER, AND, IN THIS CASE, VISIBILITY ON A RELATIVELY NATURAL OR MANAGED AGRICULTURAL HORIZON. THESE CHANGES CAN AFFECT THE QUALITY OF LIFE FOR RESIDENTS AND THE SUSTAINABILITY OF AGRICULTURE, BOTH POSITIVELY AND NEGATIVELY. WIND ENERGY DEVELOPMENT IS EXPANDING RAPIDLY, CREATING MANY OPPORTUNITIES FOR LOCAL COMMUNITIES. FOR INSTANCE, INCREASED ECONOMIC DIVERSIFICATION HELPS IMPROVE ECONOMIC STABILITY BY MINIMIZING RISK FROM DEPENDENCE ON A DOMINANT INDUSTRY. THIS EFFECT CAN BE PARTICULARLY IMPORTANT IN RURAL AREAS, WHICH MAY DEPEND HEAVILY ON AGRICULTURE. EVEN WHERE ENVIRONMENTAL OR NATURAL RESOURCE-BASED TOURISM IS JUXTAPOSED WITH AGRICULTURE, WIND ENERGY PRODUCTION CAN OFFER ADVANTAGES OF DIVERSIFICATION, PARTICULARLY BECAUSE ESTABLISHED WINDMILL TECHNOLOGY NEED OCCUPY A RELATIVELY SMALL FOOTPRINT REMOVED FROM CONVENTIONAL FARM OPERATIONS WHILE CONTRIBUTING A RELIABLE SOURCE OF INCOME INJECTED IN AN AGRICULTURAL PORTFOLIO. WIND ENERGY PROJECTS, HOWEVER, CAN OFTEN BE CONTROVERSIAL DUE TO POTENTIAL NEGATIVE IMPACTS ON LOCAL COMMUNITIES, THROUGH REAL OR PERCEIVED IMPACTS ON ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP, INCLUDING IMPACTS ON ECOSYSTEM SERVICES ASSOCIATED WITH WILDLIFE OR LANDSCAPE AMENITIES. SOME OF THESE IMPACTS MAY BE OFFSET BY COMPENSATION PAID OR FUNDED BY DEVELOPERS, BUT IT IS NOT EASY TO NEGOTIATE WITH COMMUNITY REPRESENTATIVES BY SUGGESTING A STANDARDIZED SCOPE OF COMPENSATION. THIS DIFFICULTY ARISES BECAUSE NOT EVERY AFFECTED HOUSEHOLD CAN BE CATEGORIZED WITHIN A SINGLE COMPENSATION BOUNDARY (OFTEN A COUNTY-LEVEL) ANDTHE IMPACTS OF WIND CAN VARY WITH THE HETEROGENEITY ACROSS HOUSEHOLDS WITHIN THE RELEVANT ZONE OF INFLUENCE. THE OVERARCHING CONTENTION OF THIS PROPOSAL IS THAT WIND ENERGY DEVELOPMENT CHANGES THE LANDSCAPE ON WHICH A RURAL COMMUNITY EVOLVES. IT SEEMS LIKELY THAT IMPACTS ON PROPERTY VALUES AND THE PREFERENCES OF RESIDENTS IN RURAL COMMUNITIES WILL BE AFFECTED DIFFERENTLY BY WIND DEVELOPMENT THAN WOULD BE THE CASE IN URBAN SETTINGS. THE POTENTIAL EFFECTS MAY BE PARTICULARLY HETEROGENEOUS IN RURAL COMMUNITIES CHARACTERIZED NOT ONLY BY AGRICULTURE BUT ALSO BY NATURAL-RESOURCE BASED TOURISM OR SIGNIFICANT PARCELLATION LINKED TO SEASONAL-RESIDENT OR SECOND-HOME LANDOWNERS. THE EFFECTS MAY ALSO BE LINKED TO INTER-GENERATIONAL AND LENGTH-OF-TENURE CHANGE, WITH OLDER RESIDENTS OR OWNERS OF PRIMARY HOMES WHO DEPEND ON LOCAL SOURCES FOR INCOME BEING MORE ACCEPTING OF WIND INSTALLATIONS RELATIVE TO THE LEVEL OF ACCEPTANCE DISPLAYED BY YOUNGER RESIDENTS OR THOSE OWNING SECONDARY HOMES AND NOT NECESSARILY RELYING ON LOCAL SOURCES FOR INCOME. THESE NUANCES MAY BE DIFFICULT TO UNCOVER OR UNDERSTAND WITHOUT A METHODOLOGICALLY PLURALISTIC APPROACH. THEREFORE, OUR OBJECTIVES REQUIRE HEDONIC ANALYSIS OF REAL ESTATE PRICES AND SURVEY DATA FROM MULTIPLE SEGMENTS OF CURRENT AND FORMER RESIDENTS OF THESE RURAL COMMUNITIES. THIS RESEARCH REPRESENTS A SUBSTANTIAL, YET INITIAL, STEP IN UNDERSTANDING THE ROLE OF WIND-FARM DEVELOPMENT ON RURAL COMMUNITIES SIMILAR TO THOSE IN THE EASTERN OR NORTHEASTERN U.S. WE EXPECT OUR STUDY TO APPLY WHERE AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL RESOURCE-BASED TOURISM SUSTAIN SUBPOPULATIONS LIKELY TO DIFFER IN TERMS OF PREFERENCES FOR THE (COMMERCIAL) ECONOMIC IMPACTS OF WIND ENERGY AND ITS LANDSCAPE OR AESTHETIC IMPACTS. WE EXPECT TO ASSESS IMPACTS USING BOTH HEDONIC MODELING AND STATED PREFERENCE SURVEYS; RESPECTIVELY, THESE METHODS USE ECONOMETRIC MODELS TO IDENTIFY THE IMPACTS ON REAL ESTATE VALUES AND TO ESTIMATE THE WILLINGNESS OF INDIVIDUALS TO PAY TO SUSTAIN ALTERNATIVE OUTCOMES FOR THEIR RURAL COMMUNITY, THEIR LANDSCAPE, OR THE CHARACTER OF THE COMMUNITY AFFECTED BY WIND. WE EXPECT TO IDENTIFY THE POTENTIAL ROLE OF WIND DEVELOPMENT BY ASSESSING ATTITUDES AND PREFERENCES OF NOT ONLY CURRENT RESIDENTS (LONG-TIME RESIDENTS AND NEWCOMERS, IN BOTH PRIMARY AND SECONDARY HOMES) BUT ALSO RECENT EMIGRANTS (RECENT SELLERS OF PRIMARY OR SECONDARY HOMES). WE PLAN TO TAKE A MULTI-STATE PERSPECTIVE, USING A PRIMARY STUDY AREA EMANATING FROM NEW YORK TO PENNSYLVANIA THROUGH WEST VIRGINIA. THE INCLUSION OF NORTHERN NEW ENGLAND STATES IS LIKELY BUT REQUIRES AN ASSESSMENT OF IDIOSYNCRASIES ARISING FROM PARTICULARLY REMOTE AREAS (FAR FROM URBAN POPULATION CENTERS AND WITH FEW OR NO INCORPORATED MUNICIPALITIES) IN AN ANALYSIS WITH THE PRIMARY STUDY AREA. IN THE NORTHEAST,AREAS WITH WIND DEVELOPMENT OF AT LEAST 25 TURBINES OFTENINVOLVE AGRICULTURE, SOMETIMES IN VALLEYS OF AN OTHERWISE MOUNTAINOUS REGION WHERE FORESTRY MAY ALSO BE PART OF AGRICULTURE. MOREOVER, THE MOUNTAINS AND ASSOCIATED WATER RESOURCES PROVIDE RECREATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES, AND IN SOME AREAS, SUCH AS NORTHERN NEW YORK ON THE BORDER WITH ONTARIO, WATER RESOURCES MAY BE THE PRIMARY RECREATIONAL RESOURCE ATTRACTION. THIS PROJECT WILL PRODUCE KNOWLEDGE TO HELP STATES AND LOCAL COMMUNITIES ASSESS THE FUTURE IMPLICATIONS OF NEW AND EXPANDING WIND DEVELOPMENTS, INCLUDING DIFFERENTIAL EFFECTS ON DIFFERENT AGE (GENERATIONAL) GROUPS AND DIFFERENTIAL EFFECTS ON LONG-TIME AND NEW RESIDENTS OCCUPYING PRIMARY OR SECONDARY (SEASONAL TOURISM) HOMES.