Is The Boca Grande Fun Run Toast?

Don’t get me wrong—I’m not a prude—but in the somewhat unlikely event that the Boca Grande Fun Run is part of the Florida Powerboat Club’s Key Poker Run program next year, it might be a good idea to leave the stripper pole back at the docks in Key West, Fla. Because whether you like it or not, agree with it or not, support it or not, that particular apparatus wouldn’t square with a “compatibility determination” assessment that means the difference between an official thumbs-up or thumbs-down for an event happening in the Key West National Wildlife Refuge, which is in part managed and controlled by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

“The Boca Grande Key refuge was set up in 1908,” said Karen Finley, the Florida Keys Refuge manager tasked with the process of setting up and evaluating whether or not a given event is appropriate for a refuge area under agency purview. “It was set up for the protection of migratory birds, and it was one of the first areas of its kind in the country. A refuge is a place to enjoy wildlife in solitude and quiet. It’s a wilderness area. It is not a place for a party, quite frankly.

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Photo courtesy/copyright Yvonne Aleman