T After 25 Years, Club's Plate Still Full - Save the Manatee Club

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Shamefully, State Poised To Downlist O n January 20, the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWCC) issued a press release stating their manatee biological review panel is recommending the manatee for downlisting at the state level from endangered to threatened. You will remember that a state biological review of the manatee is being conducted because of a petition from a recreational angler’s group opposed to boat speed restrictions. Last year, the FWCC adopted state listing/delisting criteria for imperiled species so stringent that manatees would have to undergo or be at risk of undergoing an 80% decline in population before they could be listed as endangered in Florida. The panel’s review of the manatee’s status was conducted using only these highly flawed criteria. Further, the state is adopting imperilment categories based on the World Conservation Union’s (IUCN) standards for listing species, but refusing to use IUCN’s corresponding terminology for each category. For example, the FWCC uses the IUCN’s criteria for “endangered” but then labels them as “threatened.” In June, the panel’s recommendation goes before the FWCC Commission. Manatees will be downlisted regardless of how they are actually faring in the wild because of tremendous pressure from special interest groups. Last year was the second worst year on record for manatee mortality. Just in the last five years, 1,682 manatees have died from all causes in Florida waters. That is almost an 18% increase over the previous five-year period. Further, in the last five years, 398 manatees were killed by boats. That’s a 17% increase over the previous five-year period! Please contact Florida Governor Jeb Bush to oppose the manatee’s downlisting by going to www.save themanatee.org/actionalert.cfm?id= 12 and sending an online letter. Please also call his office at 850-488-4441. Many thanks! 4 Cool Manatee Stuff! Learn about manatees, and have fun doing it! To watch a video, listen to manatee sounds, send a postcard, take a quiz, and much more, go to www.savethemanatee.org/coolstuff.htm Winter Season, Reporting For Roll Call Blue Spring Update, by Ranger Wayne Hartley DEEP DENT HAS RETURNED!! He was in on December 12th. I knew it was Deep Dent but took special care to look him all over to be sure. In the past two years of absence, Deep Dent has not changed one observable bit. He has no new deep dents! The season started without me as I had gone to Texas to see my youngest son before he departed for Iraq. I estimated the season started on October 28th. They were not supposed to be in so early! So far this year, we have at least 250 different manatees we have seen in the Run. This is a new record over last year’s record 200. Speaking of records, I had an official count of 145 on January 8th. Last season’s record count was 129. We have seventeen calves this season; so far, it is very hard to sort the calves out in such a crowd! Not a record but plenty of calves. Many animals are not marked (unscarred). Perhaps regulations to protect them are working, although offhand, I can still think of six manatees terribly injured this summer. Gathering of manatees at Blue Spring on a cold winter’s day. Photo by Walker Stanberry. Other than a few scratches that could have been from a tree, rock or dock, I have observed no new marks on the adoptees. The big days for return to Blue Spring for the winter weather were November 26th with six, and December 12th with four. Brutus was back on December 13th but didn’t stay around much. Dana is recorded as coming in on December 22nd, still nursing her one year old, Ditch. She is marked but such a good healer that the scar is easy to miss in the crowds we had. Doc was back on December 26th and is in a lot. Flash made it in continued on page 6
Rampant Growth Threatens Spring’s Future By Sandra Clinger, East Coast Florida Regional Coordinator T he St. Johns River Water Management District (SJRWMD) released its updated report and recommended minimum flow proposal for Blue Spring, which is the winter home of most of our manatee adoptees. Disappointingly, the proposal continues to allow groundwater withdrawals to reduce spring flow up to 16% of the average annual flow rate and would reduce the currently available warm water refuge area for manatees by 37% under catastrophic conditions. Less flow from the spring means less warm water available for manatees. The district’s proposal doesn’t recommend the flow to be restored Facts Should Matter By Patrick M. Rose, Director of Government Relations Will the facts matter to the Florida Legislature when the big money interests press for changes in the coastal development permitting process to make even more money faster? Although the facts would tell you that development permits (for marinas, docks, and boat ramps) on Florida’s waterfronts are being processed and approved at nearly frantic rates, one thing we can be sure of this session is that dock builders and developers will be lobbying for an even more streamlined process that will get them their permits in record time. Sea grasses, fisheries, manatees, and water quality all suffer when the agencies charged to assess the adverse impacts of proposed projects are not provided the appropriate time or resources to properly evaluate and mitigate for these impacts. Both state and federal laws Drawing by Steve Grew, an Orlando, FL artist. to present levels until 2024. The data the SJRWMD used in its model knowingly under-estimates manatee use at Blue Spring, which benefits developers wanting maximum ground water withdrawals. If the proposed minimum flow is adopted by the state, it could require that in addition to evaluating the individual impacts of each proposed project, the cumulative impacts of existing and future projects also need to be considered. Unfortunately this is not happening. Decision-makers really don’t want to know just how badly the impacts from all of these projects are affecting the quality of our waterways because then they would have to address the problems. Will the facts matter? I really doubt it so long as most lawmakers are influenced by political contributions more than their responsibility to the public trust. To end on a positive note, I want to applaud Florida Senate President Tom Lee for having the great courage to seek a ban on lobbyists’ gifts and for his efforts on other reforms. Special thanks also to Florida House Speaker Allan Bense for working to make it a reality. have catastrophic consequences for manatees seeking refuge from the cold at Blue Spring. The minimum flow should be set at no less than the current average annual flow. Blue Spring State Park was established to protect the spring run for manatees and an entire subpopulation of manatees is dependent on Blue Spring to survive the cold winter temperatures. Manatees should not be sacrificed for developers’ profits. Please take the time to “Take Action” on this issue. Go to www.savethemanatee. org/actionalert.cfm?id=8 to send an online letter. Thanks so much for your help! Take Action Please e-mail, call, or fax Senator Lee and Speaker Bense to thank them for their stance on lobbyist reform and to ask them to oppose any weakening of state environmental laws. Their contact information follows: The Honorable Tom Lee, President Room 312 Senate Office Building 404 South Monroe Street Tallahassee, FL 32399-1100 Phone: (850) 487-5072 FAX: (813) 744-8556 E-mail: lee.tom.web@flsenate.gov The Honorable Allan G. Bense, Speaker Florida House of Representatives 420 The Capitol Tallahassee, FL 32399-1300 Phone: (850) 488-1450 Fax: (850) 914-6302 E-mail: speaker@myfloridahouse.gov 5
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T After 25 Years, Club's Plate Still Full - Save the Manatee Club

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