(Photo © David R. Schrichte)

On September 1st, after years of work spurred on by concerned environmental groups like Save the Manatee Club, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission adopted a new and improved Endangered and Threatened Species rule at their Commission meeting. Under the new rule, manatees and other federally listed species will maintain their federal designation. In other words, the manatee continues to be listed as endangered in Florida because it is listed as endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act.

Eliana Campos (at left) talks with Dr. Katie Tripp about Florida's new and improved Endangered and Threatened Species rule. (Photo by Nancy Sadusky)

Save the Manatee Club and several other environmental stakeholders have remained actively engaged in this issue at every step, advocating for a better rule that would provide meaningful protection to Florida’s at-risk species.

Learn more about what the new rule means for manatees. Listen to an audio interview with Dr. Katie Tripp, Director of Science and Conservation for Save the Manatee Club, to get more information about the new rule, learn about her work, and how to get involved. The interview was conducted by Eliana Campos, who maintains the Club's Facebook and MySpace pages.

Listen to the Interview (7 min, 13 sec)

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