For Immediate Release: August 1, 2003

Earlier this year, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), under pressure from Save the Manatee Club and a coalition of environmental and animal protection groups, agreed to propose regulations intended to provide much-needed protection for manatees in three areas of Florida: the Caloosahatchee River in Lee County, the St. Johns River in Duval and Clay Counties, and the Halifax and Tomoka Rivers in Volusia County. The proposed rule was published in March, and the public was allowed to comment on it until June 3, 2003.

Save the Manatee Club and the coalition are extremely disappointed in the Service's final rule, which was published on August 1, 2003. Although the rule provides some limited improvement over existing protection in some areas, for the most part, it is woefully inadequate given the enormity of problems manatees face from human activities. In their March rule proposal, the Service stated the best available science supported the need for the proposed zones, which were considerably stronger than what has been adopted. This substantial modification flies in the face of the science used to draft the proposal.

Ironically, there was overwhelming public support for the proposed protection areas. Therefore, it can only be concluded that this is an obviously political decision - certainly not one based on sound science or public support. We will be reviewing our options and plan to work further on this issue, but we may need your help, so please join our E-mail Action Alert Team (see below) and check the SMC web site for future updates.

For more information, see:

Critical New Federal Protection Areas To Be Proposed
For Endangered Manatees

Public Support For Increased Manatee Protections Overwhelming

Manatee Protection Lawsuits

Take Action!

Join our E-mail Action Alert Team today! We'll send you notices of manatee issues that require your help. Send your email address (please also indicate if you are a Florida resident) to: action@savethemanatee.org and request to be added to Save the Manatee Club's E-mail Action Alert Team. Thanks for your help and support!