"In general, fireworks are hard on wildlife."
-- Jeff Liechty
Safety Harbor officials said Monday they are exploring other options for the annual July 4 fireworks show after wildlife advocates raised concerns about the event’s proximity to islands with threatened nesting birds.
The city’s Independence Day celebration is planned for Safety Harbor City Park, a 26-acre property that borders Alligator Lake in the Old Tampa Bay watershed.
The freshwater lake holds two islands that are key gathering grounds for protected birds, with regular visitors including at least four state-threatened species: wood storks, little blue and tricolored herons and the reddish egret, North America’s rarest egret species.
Read more at the Tammpa Bay Times