Fighting the Feds once again
It seems that Keys residents are consistently reminded of the fact there is the right way of doing things and there is the U.S. government's way of doing things. The recent conflict over the aerial spraying of the aèdes aegysti (mosquito for short) is a prime example of this dogma.When Monroe County was informed by the government they could no longer spray pesticides over federal lands to control the mosquito population, local authorities were quick to express their concerns. It was also requested that the use of Dibrom be substituted with a less toxic insecticide known as Malathion, which the mosquitoes of the lower keys have become immune to, due to extensive use of this chemical in the past. This act of senselessness caused a great number of protests to erupt.
The people of the keys are subjected to the omnipresent mosquito because of a sub-tropical climate and many miles of mangrove swamps where, if allowed to go unchecked, the threat of yellow fever and encephalitis could easily spread to an epidemic crisis. These restrictions upon spraying would apply to more than 50 percent of the islands in the lower keys and would cause devastating living conditions for neighboring residents to these lands.
The Monroe County Mosquito Control District board was willing to comply with restricting their spraying to non-federal lands providing the government would restrict their mosquitoes to their lands as well!
The ban on aerial insecticide spraying was finally lifted by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service but not without a few strings attached (as always). For example; aerial spraying was limited to islands with vehicular traffic only (as though that has a lot to do with mosquitoes), two days prior notice was required by the county before spraying federal lands on populated islands with vehicular traffic (was this to perhaps warn their mosquitoes to evacuate?), and no wilderness areas were to be doused with spray without specific authorization (authorization from exactly whom, ... and what is their definition of doused, was not clear). Also, six more months were granted to find an alternative chemical for Dibrom (would somebody please inform the mosquitoes).
