Agency Releases Draft
Management Plan
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Photo © David R. Schrichte |
The Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) recently released their draft Management Plan for manatees. The draft plan is part of the process of downlisting manatees from “Endangered” to “Threatened” at the state level, using new listing criteria for imperiled species that was adopted by Florida in June 2006. Manatees are still listed as “Endangered” under federal law.
The FWC draft Management Plan is a start, but Save the Manatee Club is concerned that it doesn’t go far enough. For example, the biological goals in the plan are set so low that they may actually lead to many more manatee deaths over time.
As written, the measurable biological goals in the plan are much too lax and should be strengthened to ensure an optimal sustainable population of manatees. Furthermore, there should be more assurances that the work of the plan will actually be accomplished and not just identified.
The FWC is seeking public input on the plan from now until January 11, 2007. Save the Manatee Club is currently preparing comments on the draft plan. Please stay tuned and check back at our web site.
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More Background Information On This Issue:
In June 2006, the FWC adopted new state listing criteria for imperiled species. In doing so, they adopted the World Conservation Union’s (IUCN) criteria for Endangered Species but elected to call those species that met the endangered criteria “Threatened” instead of “Endangered.” As a result, the FWC is proceeding to downlist manatees under the new criteria to “Threatened” but cannot finalize the downlisting until they adopt a Management Plan.
Because there was a huge public outcry against the misuse of the IUCN criteria, and downlisting in general, the FWC has publicly committed to developing a Management Plan that will not weaken protections for manatees. However, special interest groups will continue to press the agency for rollbacks in manatee protection and unless manatee advocates weigh in, the plan will be a weak one.
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