Hundreds of thousands of miles of transmission lines have been introduced into our natural environment. These lines and their corridors can be damaging or beneficial to wildlife communities depending on how they are designed, where they are placed, and when they are constructed and maintained. With the current trend toward UHV systems, new problems (associated with additional increments in audible noise, electric and magnetic force fields, etc.) must be addressed. We recommend the following areas for careful study: (1) the response of wilderness species to transmission lines and line construction and maintenance activities (2) the magnitude of bird collision and electrocution mortality, (3) the response of power corridor and power tower in habiting wildlife to laboratory and field doses of electro-chemical oxidants, corona noise, electric and magnetic fields, etc., (4) the productivity of tower inhabiting birds compared with nearby non-tower nesters, and (5) the influence of powerline corridors on mammalian and avian migration patterns. It is our hope that the questions identified in this study will help stimulate further research so that we can maximize wildlife benefits and minimize wildlife detriments.
