Sunday, October 13, 2013

Shutdown

You're probably wondering how the government shutdown is affecting us out here.  Since this isn't an official USFWS blog and I do it on my own time, I won't go into it too much other than to say that we are officially shut down like all of the other refuges.  Since the visitor program and volunteer program were already suspended, at least we didn't have to send anyone home.  The three FWS employees on island are still working since we are responsible for the health and safety of the island population.  Our duties are somewhat limited at the moment though.  The taxiway work can still continue, since that was is a safety issue that started before the shutdown and we're still an emergency airport.
   
 We had a small going away dinner at Captain Brooks' for the crews from Northwest Demolition and Iniki Enterprises.  They are done working for this season but will be back next year to continue to remediate the lead paint on the older buildings and help to keep our wildlife healthy out here.


The barge is back again on Midway from a quick turnaround to Hawaii to pick up more materials for the taxiway upgrade.

 A batch plant has been set up on the abandoned taxiway for processing of the aggregate for resurfacing.

 There is a lot more heavy equipment than ususal.

A Masked booby is sitting on one of the range markers in the lagoon.

This is another photo of Sand Island with the "dramatic" setting on my Olympus camera.

4 comments:

Brandl said...

furloughed due to the shut down. You where recommended to me by Dr Lindsay Young of Pacific Rim Conservation. I contacted her with the same request for albatross gut/bolus plastic obstruction. But since her albatross colony is quite small she said that the boluses are of a less dramatic type. I am having a tough time contacting anyone to get information about the subject of Laysan Albatross plastic consumption. I have a project of my own which incorporates the problem. You seem like the go to fellow. Any insights are welcome.

Pete Leary said...

I like your work, Jessica. I can give you more information if you contact me directly.

Sarah+Phillip said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Sarah+Phillip said...

Hey Pete! Long time no talk! I was reading your blog and saw you wrote about crews out at Midway working to remove lead paint and such from older buildings... are there any projects in the works for cleaning up Tern Island as well? Just curious because last I heard (after the big storm) everything was left as is. Glad to hear you are still out there working in paradise. Hope all is well.