Florida Governor Charlie Crist Asks for Delay on Manatee Vote

Following a last-minute request from Florida governor Charlie Crist, members of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) are expected to postpone a vote that would have downgraded the manatee's status from "endangered" to "threatened," according to news from the FWC.

FWC commissioners had planned to vote on a new manatee management plan during their meeting in St. Petersburg this week. However, Crist sent FWC chairman Rodney Barreto a letter this Monday asking the commission to postpone that decision.

"I applaud the Commission's efforts to implement a strong, thorough management plan for the Florida Manatee," Crist wrote. "However, given the need for a better method to estimate the population of the Florida Manatee, and the record 417 manatee deaths in 2006, I believe a more prudent course of action at this time would be to postpone consideration of the proposed change in the status of this species."

Barreto was expected to recommend a postponement on the vote first thing Wednesday morning, according to Ken Hadded, FWC executive director.

The conservation group Defenders of Wildlife praised the governor's intervention on behalf of the manatee.

"We wholeheartedly support the governor's request and strongly encourage the commission to follow his lead by not downlisting the manatee at this time," said Rodger Schlickeisen, president and CEO of Defenders of Wildlife, in a statement released Tuesday. "Postponing this critical decision will give new members of the commission time to learn more about the manatee and the trials that it faces on the road to recovery. A full understanding of this complex issue is critical in making a final decision about the future management of the manatee."

Under revised standards first adopted by the FWC in 1999 for determining which species to include on Florida's imperiled species list, the manatee qualifies only for "threatened" status rather than "endangered." A panel of biologists came to that conclusion after determining that the manatee population had "virtually no chance" of dropping by 80 percent over the next 60 years, which is the state's threshold for endangered species status.

Defenders of Wildlife calls the FWC standards "flawed."

According to the FWC, there are fewer than 2,500 mature adults in Florida's manatee population. While the overall population is growing in three out of four of the state's management areas, the number of manatees in southwest Florida is believed to be declining.

The manatee remains listed as endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act.

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, "Crist Asks FWC to Postpone Manatee Decisions." URL: (http://myfwc.com/whatsnew/07/statewide/crist_manatee_postpone.html)