Avangrid Renewables will support expanded California condor breeding at the Oregon Zoo, aiming to offset possible bird fatalities from a Southern California wind farm it owns.
The Portland-based company said Wednesday that federal wildlife officials had accepted its conservation plan for the giant endangered bird and issued an incidental take permit for the Manzana Wind Power Project.
Under the permit, Avangrid Renewables will fund the addition of a full-time employee in the zoo’s condor breeding program — a $90,000 annual expense — until it produces six additional releasable condors. That’s expected to take at least three years.
