GLENROCK, Wyo. – Richard Grant Jr.’s family has ranched Wyoming’s rugged granite-and-grass hills for generations, their 123-year-old ranch dotted with reminders of their long history – an historic schoolhouse, an old red barn and the parcels of land sold away during hard times. But it wasn’t until a few years ago that a radical prospect blew in with the stiff winds that sweep the ridge tops of the northern Laramie Range: wind turbines. Grant welcomes the chance to get into wind energy development and generate some income. His courting of wind developers however has put him at odds with some of his neighbors, who consider a large-scale wind farm to be the industrialization of their backyards in the sparsely populated region. ‘My goal is to stay in ag, be able to pass on our generations of history,’ Grant said. ‘This gives us that opportunity.’ As the nation’s demand for renewable energy grows, landowners and governments across the West are wrestling with how to balance their cherished private property rights against the far-reaching visual impact of 400-foot-tall wind turbines and the transmission lines needed to move power to distant cities. ‘That’s something you’re hearing a lot […]