Landmark Manatee Management Plan

With all the stuff I know and have observed about our manatee I didn't even know that our State of Florida never had a management plan for our endangered and state marine mammal? Can you imagine they were going to "down-list" the status of this endangered creature at the state level from "endangered" to "threatened" without ever implementing a comprehensive plan for recovery and measurement of that recovery success? Shows what can happen when large monied boating and development interests start having a lot of influence to attain their agenda.

But this is really, really good news for the manatee and shows the State of Florida does care about this species and its role as caretaker of this population for the entire country.

Kudos to these new commissioners that Gov Charlie Crist appointed to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Board and the commissioners still serving terms - thanks for doing the right thing! (People don't realize that one to two years ago this "down-listing" process for the Florida manatee was inches from being set in stone so this is a large turnaround for all of us who have rallied on the side of conserving the manatee)

"Nurture the species away from extinction" is a quote from the press release I just got below.

It is an interesting wrap up of the meeting that dealt with bald eagles, spiny lobsters and other creatures.

A little move in the right direction for a change. Best, Carol

For immediate release: December 6, 2007

Contacts: (inland issues) Henry Cabbage 850-488-8843

(marine issues) Lee Schlesinger 850-487-0554

FWC wraps up Key Largo meeting

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) wrapped up a two-day meeting Thursday at Key Largo after wading through an eventful agenda.

Commissioners voted to approve the Florida Manatee Management Plan during the Wednesday session, effectively establishing a comprehensive plan that lays out all the realistic measures the state can take to nurture the species away from the threat of extinction. The plan also includes measurable goals for the manatee’s recovery. It marks the first time Florida has had a management plan for the species.

Commissioners voted to defer a proposal to reclassify manatees from endangered to threatened on the state’s imperiled species list. Meanwhile, Commissioners directed FWC staff to research options for revising the agency’s imperiled-species classification process.

Also, Commissioners heard an update on a proposed management plan and associated rules concerning the bald eagle Wednesday. Final action on those proposals will take place at a later meeting.

The Commission approved acquisition of the 1,148-acre Dunham Ranch in Polk County as a mitigation park and acquisition of the 1,652-acre Lucky L Ranch in Asocial County as an addition to the Three Lakes Wildlife Management Area.

During Thursday’s session, Commissioners re-elected Rodent Barrette to be the seven-member commission’s chairman and Brian Yablonski to be vice chairman for 2008.

Commissioners also approved final adoption of rules to clear up the FWC’s due process procedures and delegations of authority.

In addition, Commissioners approved a new rule to require owners of Class I (potentially very dangerous) animals to contact the FWC immediately in the event of an animal escape. It also requires owners to keep records of names, addresses and phone numbers of adjacent property owners for notification in case a dangerous animal escapes.

Concerning marine issues, Commissioners proposed draft rule proposals from the FWC’s Spiny Lobster Advisory Board. The board’s proposals include extending the current moratorium on the spiny lobster trap reduction schedule, allowing two different spiny lobster endorsement holders to pull traps from the same vessel, revert trap certificates not paid for to the FWC after two years instead of three and prohibit the harvest of all egg-bearing lobsters. A final public hearing on these proposed rules will be held in April in Tallahassee.

Also, the Commission proposed a rule that would modify the legal dimensions for black sea bass traps to allow more flexibility in the size and shape of these traps. Final action on this proposed rule will take place in February in Panama City.

In other marine fisheries actions, Commissioners approved the proposed marine fisheries work plan for 2008-09, discussed ways to better incorporate FWC input into the federal fisheries management process and considered various federal fisheries management issues.

The Commission adopted resolutions honoring former commissioners Herky Huffman, Sandra Kaupe and David Meehan.

The complete agenda is available at MyFWC.com/commission/2007/Dec07/index.html.

The next FWC meeting is set for Feb. 6-7 in Panama City.

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HPC/CR

Hey Carol,

What do you know about 3 Sisters being sold to build condos there? I had someone in my office earlier this week from Crystal River who informed me of this.

Jeff

That happened almost 2 yrs ago, I was sick about it but it isn't a done deal yet for sure. Yes, the land was sold at a substantial price but since then as you know the housing and especially condo market in Florida has crashed. Plus there will be additional regulations environmentally now so who knows what will really happen?

I do know that initially as part of the plan the developers were required to leave the area around 3 sister's undeveloped as a kind of preserved park, so the condos wouldn't actually even see 3 sister's or be that close to the springs. But again with additional regulations, especially regarding the manatee now the land may never be developed. It won't be the first time a developer bought land, had a big, ambitious plan but never got it through all the channels.

I was pleased when I saw the commissioners walking around the 3 sister's property the day before the reclassification vote. Glad, not just to see them talking about manatee but obviously seeing a tiny piece of prime manatee habitat that is undeveloped and should remain that way if we really care about our sirenian friends.

Thanks, Carol