Manatee, eagle knocked off Florida's endangered list

WEST PALM BEACH — The beloved manatee and American bald eagle got knocked down a peg or two on Florida’s list of imperiled species Wednesday, prompting animal advocates to walk away predicting the demise of the species.

But development and boating industry advocates strolled away enthused.

“It was the proper thing to do,” said John Sprague, of the Marine Industry Association of Florida, referring to the downlisting of the manatee from endangered to threatened.

The American eagle got booted from Florida’s list entirely. But the gopher tortoise and Panama City crayfish were upgraded from species of special concern to threatened.

All four unanimous votes by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission took place during a contentious meeting at the West Palm Beach Marriott.

The eagle and manatee remain federally protected, but their status is under review.

The seven-member, governor-appointed panel repeated to the jam-packed standing-room-only crowd, which had traveled from around the state, that the designation and downgrading isn’t related to the level of protection the animals will receive.

The level of protection is decided during the next phase of the listing process — when the management plans are adopted. The plans set up the rules for what must occur in the creatures’ habitats, such as speed zones and dock construction in the case of manatees and whether developers can continue to bury alive gopher tortoises.

Downlisting doesn’t become official until the management plans are adopted, which is expected to take about a year.

“There’s an opportunity in the management plan to strengthen the protection,” Commissioner David Meehan said.

But advocates, particularly of the manatees, pleaded with the commissioners not to make the downgrading changes.

“This is going to affect the implementation of the management plans,” said Judith Vallee, executive director of the Save the Manatees Club.

Advocates were adamant that the downgrading of the manatee would send the wrong message to the Legislature and the public. They will think that the manatee no longer needs protection. The Legislature determines rules pertaining to the manatee, and the amount of funding set aside for research, enforcement and management.

Manley Fuller, of the Florida Wildlife Federation, asked commissioners to, at the very least, consider allowing the Southwest Florida manatee population and upper St. Johns River area populations to be retained as endangered species.

The populations in the Northwest and Atlantic regions could be downgraded to threatened because that’s where the sea cows are doing better.

But manatees continue to die at high rates in Southwest Florida.

“The Southwest Florida population needs protection. That’s where the rubber meets the road,” Fuller said.

The population of 1,400 sea cows in Southwest Florida continues to die off after collisions with boats. Ten manatees have died in the first five months of this year from being struck by boats, state records show. Some 396 sea cows across the state died in 2005. Eighty of those deaths were due to collisions with watercraft.

The Save the Manatee Club and 17 other environmental and animal protection groups petitioned the commission last week, asking it to reconsider the way it lists imperiled species.

Pat Rose, director of public policy for the group, said when the commission adopted what he called flawed classifications in 1999, it set the stage for the change that occurred Wednesday.

Rose said because the new classifications are less stringent, a review of an animal’s status could result in a downlisting. According to a 2003 FWC report, of 24 species reviewed, two-thirds would be downlisted or taken off the list.

That review of the manatees’ status occurred after the Coastal Conservation Commission petitioned the FWC to revisit the question once the state adopted its flawed listing, Rose contends.

“They were no dummies,” said Rose of the Coastal Commission before the meeting. “They could see the rule changes would mean that the manatees would have to be downgraded.”

The Coastal Conservation Commission represents 11,000 Florida anglers. It claims the manatee has bounced back from 1,200 sea cows in 1988 to an estimated 3,000 today.

Sprague, of the Marine Industries Association, said the numbers show the manatees’ reclassification should occur.

“It’s a sizable number,” he said.

Ted Forsgren, executive director of the anglers’ group, said before the meeting that it asked for the manatee review after the Save the Manatee Club reinstituted a lawsuit and pushed for major new slow speed zones in pristine fishing areas.

“We know from our own analysis that the manatee did not fit in the endangered species category. We wanted the truth on the table about the state of the manatee population. There are more manatees in Florida today than there were 25 years ago.”

Rose said those figures are flawed and have been batted around for years.

The reclassifications that occurred Wednesday had the endorsements of a biological review panel made up of independent scientists from around the nation.

Development and boating industry enthusiasts maintained throughout the meeting that the downgrading was based on science.

“We have the best science. The arguments we are hearing are not about science,” said Kenneth Haddad, executive director of the Fish and Wildlife Commission.

State officials contend the bald eagle is successfully recovering, from 88 nests in 1973 to more than 1,100 across the state, state officials said.

The commission meeting continues today at the Marriott.