UPC Wind Management, LLC retained LandWorks to conduct an aesthetic assessment and provide expert testimony for an extensive Section 248 permit approval process for a proposed wind farm in Sheffield, Vermont.  This multi-year project included a review of all aspects of the project proposal as provided by UPC Vermont Wind and extensive field work. We developed a comprehensive photographic inventory of the project and environs. Computerized viewshed analyses were prepared and field observations notated, including the project’s visibility from a range of public viewing locations and public roads. Visual simulations of the proposed wind farm from selected locations were also developed. We analyzed town and regional planning documents, and incorporated principles for wind farm siting and mitigation. Other aspects of the recreational, physiographic and cultural qualities of the project environs and the region were reviewed and addressed.  We also worked with a historic preservation expert to evaluate the potential aesthetic impacts to historic resources in the region.  Under a separate contract, we also provided UPC with coordinated GIS mapping of all components of the project.  The project was granted a Certificate of Public Good by the Department of Public Service in 2007 and plans for construction are underway.