Local species would be endangered by FloydFest
The new FloydFest venue at 5826 Floyd Highway North, Check, VA may not be suitable and the annual event might be canceled until 2024. Some fans have complained that the 5-day concert should have remained at its original location in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Floyd. The website stated that due to final permitting and logistical factors beyond their control, there may be no 2023 festival. Details have now emerged that reveals the issue is two inhabitants of the Check location- rare Bog turtles and satyr butterflies.
FlodyFest was scheduled for Wednesday, July 26 through Sunday, July 24 and the leaders began looking for another venue because there are problems with the Check location. Stereogum is reporting that the problem with having the event in the Check location is that it would endanger satyr butterflies whose biggest threat is habitat loss and modification and rare Bog turtles which are a critically endangered species.
FloydFest workers did not have proper proper authority
The Virginia Department Of Environmental Quality revealed early in March that the construction workers did not have a state-approved stormwater management plan, and that construction has already impacted the habitats of the bog turtle and the endangered Mitchell’s satyr butterfly,
Satyr butterflies need a special type of wetland habitat in order to thrive which is found in prairie fens-a grassy wetland with peat soils that have a basic pH (the opposite of acidic). The bog turtles' preferred habitat, AKA fen, is slightly acidic with a high water table year-round. Will Harlan, a biologist representing the Center For Biological Diversity, sent a letter raising concerns about the impact on the ecosystem in the area:
The bog turtle and their unique wetland habitat in Floyd County are especially significant and warrant the highest level of protection offered by federal and state managing agencies.
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