Florida to Remove Manatee From State's Endangered List; feds also evaluate [View All]

[DeepModem Mom]

NYT: Florida to Remove Manatee From State's Endangered List
By TERRY AGUAYO
Published: June 9, 2006

MIAMI, June 8 — The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission voted unanimously on Wednesday to remove the Florida manatee from the state's endangered species list. The move is already creating controversy among environmental groups that say manatees will not get the protection they need.

"The commissioners are very much being pressured by development interests and to some extent boating interests that depend on consuming Florida wildlife and habitat," said Patrick Rose, a biologist with the Save the Manatee Club.

The commission voted 7 to 0 to reclassify the manatee as a threatened species. The reclassification means that while the species is still at a high risk of extinction, the commission no longer considers it to be in imminent danger.

On the federal level, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service is re-evaluating the manatee's designation in the Endangered Species Act.

The process to reclassify the manatee in Florida began in 2001, when boating and development groups began a campaign against restrictions intended to protect the mammals. Since then, scientists working for the commission and others conducted studies and reviewed literature before advising commissioners that manatees no longer meet the criteria for listing as an endangered species....

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/09/us/09manatee.html