ALERT: Manatees in danger of losing protections

[Guest guest]

PLEASE CROSSPOST

 

You'll read in the Miami Herald article below that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has weaken rules protecting manatees by "recently 'streamlining' its dock permitting. The move largely exempts single-family home docks from additional federal scrutiny if a county has an approved manatee protection plan."

 

Email Army Corps of Engineers: george.halford

 

You'll also read below that Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commissioner, Rodney Barreto, backs developers, not the manatees.

 

Email the man who appointed Barreto, Governor Jeb Bush: jeb.bush

 

Letter to the editor: HeraldEd

 

Posted on Mon, Oct. 03, 2005

 

 

MANATEES

Protection of sea cows is no longer a sacred cow

 

Developers and boaters are fighting to eliminate protections for manatees, insisting their population has grown.

 

BY CURTIS MORGAN AND MARC CAPUTO

cmorgan

 

The manatee, clinging to a spot on the state's endangered species list, is now in deep danger of losing its equally important status as Florida's politically sacred sea cow.

 

A coalition of boating and marine development interests has run up such a string of victories -- from easing dock-building permits to altering how the state defines the word ''endangered'' -- that even Florida wildlife officials are considering whether to roll back regulations intended to protect the slow-moving mammals.

 

''We are changing the dialogue,'' said lobbyist Wade Hopping, whose push to ease regulations with a 1999 strategy memo argued manatees might no longer be close to the brink of extinction.

 

'In the past, the conversation went something like this: `There are only 1,200 manatees. One died. Now we have only 1,199 manatees. What new regulations do we need?,' '' said Hopping, who represents developers and the marine industry.

 

``Today the conversation is: We have more than 3,000 manatees, the population looks fairly constant. Maybe we should have fewer regulations.''

 

TIDE CHANGES

 

The campaign really caught fire when a state aerial survey counted an all-time high of 3,276 sea cows -- double previous estimates -- in 2001.

 

That very year, a sweeping series of crackdowns on boaters and builders was imposed. The campaign has spread since, fueled by a mix of grass roots resistence, persistent lobbying and slick sloganeering about ''boaters rights'' and ``waterfront access for all.''

 

The tide has changed since the Save The Manatee Club and 17 other environmental groups won a landmark settlement in a federal lawsuit filed in 2000.

 

It forced state and federal regulators to mandate manatee protection plans statewide and an array of slow-speed zones.

 

Manatee advocates admit they worry about the ripple effect on a creature that's an icon for Florida's fragile environment.

 

''Since we won these protections, we've been playing defense.'' said Eric Glitzenstein, an attorney for the environmental groups. ``I think that is a fair way to put it.''

 

SACRED NO MORE

 

The environmentalists' heart-tugging campaign helped make the manatee so popular and important for so long -- spawning state-issued license plates, attracting celebrity patrons like Jimmy Buffett and winning broad bipartisan support. But that all has crashed into hard economic and political reality.

 

With a development-friendly Legislature and a state wildlife commission stocked by political appointees -- several with development ties -- critics say there has been no effort to check booming coastal construction that continues to spawn high-end housing with more and bigger docks. Also, more people are slowed by manatee regulations today, owing to increased ownership in luxury boats and used boats that last longer than ever.

 

For now, speed zones remain in place, as does closer federal scrutiny for large dock projects. But manatee-protection foes also can count a string of technical, legal and political wins that are changing oversight.

 

RULES WEAKENING

 

• Last month, the Florida Cabinet relaxed dock-building rules to allow more developers to build up to one boat slip for every housing unit, a move opposed by environmentalists.

 

• The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recently ''streamlined'' its dock permitting. The move largely exempts single-family home docks from additional federal scrutiny if a county has an approved manatee protection plan.

 

DROPPED PLANS

 

• In the last three years, federal agencies have dropped plans to impose a hefty permit fee -- $524 on each dock -- and to block all new dock construction in booming Southwest Florida, where manatee deaths soared.

 

• Last year, state legislators changed manatee protection laws by calling on the Florida Wildlife Conservation Commission to establish ''measurable biological goals'' for manatee populations to see if more rules are needed. If the goals are met in an area, a majority of commissioners want to remove rules. Urging them on: the sport-fishing Coastal Conservation Association, the National Marine Manufacturers Association, the Florida Council of Yacht Clubs, water-scooter manufacturers and the new boating group Standing Watch.

 

The effort to change the manatee's endangered status on the state list may not necessarily alter its protections. The federal government still lists the manatee as endangered.

 

`THREATENED'

 

• The wildlife commission is studying whether to downgrade manatees from endangered to either ''threatened'' or a ``species of special concern.''

 

The review -- the first on the manatee in more than 30 years -- was spurred by a petition from the Coastal Conservation Association. Manatee advocates, most notably Maitland-based Save the Manatee Club, insist the sea cow remains at high risk.

 

The number of manatees might be up overall, they say, but so are deaths -- including from boats. Though recent aerial counts suggest the population has surged statewide, the club argues biologists still have trouble tracking manatees.

 

A few years of higher numbers is not enough to ensure the population will continue to grow or even remain stable without increased protection, said club scientist Patti Thompson: ``Taking away manatee protections is just like telling a person to stop taking his blood-pressure medication because his blood-pressure happens to be low that day.''

 

REAL VICTIMS

 

But citizens like John Nicholson of Daytona Beach, who addressed the wildlife commission at its June meeting in his hometown, complain they're the real victims because manatee rules hamper economic and private-property development.

 

''What we need in this city is some of your help. Your manatees are going to kill us,'' Nicholson said, urging the commissioners to consider ''monetary'' factors and not view manatee rules ''strictly from a conservation'' vantage.

 

Commissioner Rodney Barreto, a prominent Miami lobbyist whose firm once represented a Brickell Avenue condo developer fighting manatee rules that prevented him from building a dock, said the man was ''totally on target'' and that boaters and communities need some ''relief'' from the rules.

 

Barreto said the commission is trying to ''strike a perfect balance'' between public access and endangered species protection.

 

OTHER DEADLY THINGS

 

He rejected critics who claim the commission has accommodated the marine industry and developers at the expense of the sea cow. But he did say that Florida should study zones to see which, at some point in time, could be either weakened or strengthened.

 

Barreto points out that most sea cows are killed by red tide, cold weather or other natural forces. Yearly, boaters account for about a quarter to a third of the deaths.

 

Manatee advocates ought to be pleased, he said, because the higher populations numbers show that state regulations are working.

 

''The state of Florida has done an incredible job in protecting the manatee,'' Barreto said.

 

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/12802786.htm