Even though a possible federal government shutdown was averted when Congress passed a bill to fund the government through Dec. 11, just the possibility still meant that one federal agency had to cancel an operation planned for the Florida Keys this week.
"We got shut down because of the potential shutdown," said Chris Eggleston, acting refuge manager for the Florida Keys. "They didn't want to start anything that would potentially make them work through the shutdown."
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service had been waiting for months to hold controlled burns on Big Pine Key. The agency plans to burn three parcels totaling about 50 acres to help get rid of accumulated fuel. The goal is also to maintain the habitat as pine rocklands.
Pine rocklands are home to pineland croton, the only host plant for the Bartram's hairstreak butterfly. That butterfly, which lives only in a few pockets of Monroe and Miami-Dade counties, was added to the Endangered Species List last year.
"The goal is to bring back that plant, which will bring back the Bartram's hairstreak," Eggleston said.
Controlled burns require certain conditions, like recent rainfall and light winds. With recent rains, the conditions were finally right to schedule the burn. But the prospect of a federal government shutdown led to the cancelation of travel for refuge firefighters.
The current plan is to re-schedule the burns for the week of Oct. 12, Eggleston said — weather allowing.
