Manatees' Status May Change: Wildlife Service Considers Removing 'Endangered' Designation

[DeepModem Mom]

Source: Washington Post

Manatees' Status May Change
Wildlife Service Considers Removing 'Endangered' Designation
By Peter Whoriskey
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, April 9, 2007; Page A03


A manatee observed at Homosassa Springs, Fla., in 2003 bore scars from injuries that may have been caused by a run-in with a boat. Many environmentalists say manatees should remain classified as an endangered species. (By Chris O'meara -- Associated Press)

MIAMI -- The Florida manatee, this state's imperiled environmental icon, in 2006 suffered its most dismal year on record.

Of a population of about 3,200, 416 died in 2006, the highest number of deaths recorded in 30 years of statistics. Many died in collisions with boat propellers.

Now, according to an internal memo, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has been drafting plans under which the celebrated marine mammals would lose their protection as an endangered species.

The planned reclassification of the slow-moving sea cows from "endangered" to "threatened" is expected to elicit criticism from environmental groups that see it as part of the Bush administration's effort to poke holes in the Endangered Species Act.

The new designation would make it easier to loosen boating speed limits and restrictions on waterfront development that have been instituted to make Florida safer for the species, environmental leaders said....According to the memo sent from Fish and Wildlife to the White House, the agency was going to say that the manatee "no longer meets the definition of an endangered species."...

***

"We've entered the witching hour of the Bush administration, where there are going to be frantic lame-duck attempts to do under the table what they cannot pass through Congress," said Jeff Ruch, executive director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, an environmental group, which obtained the memo....

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/08/AR2007040800500.html?hpid=moreheadlines

[Kagemusha]

1. Even though I personally support keeping this species as endangered...

I see this "its most dismal year on record" as being MASSIVELY MISLEADING. A record number of deaths in 30 years of statistical data, sure. But the rest of the article includes stating that the population size is larger than it was 30 years ago and has been on a steady rise. THAT is how the admin can argue that the species is merely threatened and not endangered at this point.

I mean, duh, if they loosen all restrictions, even if the admin is right, they could very easily become well and truly endangered very quickly... I just am very, very leery about "lying with statistics" no matter who's doing it, no matter what the reason. If the population of a country doubles in 50 years and there is a record number of deaths from cancer, heart disease, car accidents, murder with firearms and sharp objects, and so on, does that mean that the population doubling is bad and wrong? I mean this in a literal way: we need a sense of proportion.

[LibertyLover]

3. Well, according to the winger husband of a friend of mine

they should remove the manatee from even the threatened list and let boat owners travel at whatever speeds they want, because if they kill manatees, more can just be imported from South America. :wtf: And no, this was not said sarcastically, but rather straight-faced and sober. My husband and I had to practically hold his 25 year old ecological scientist daughter back from his throat. If we hadn't been visiting them when he said it, I personally would have sicced her on the idiot.

[VegasWolf]

6. Or God can just whip up some more manatees like he did a couple of thousand years ago. Idiots! nt

[liberal N proud]

2. One after another they will remove endangered species proclaiming progress

More lies!
They know how hard it is to get them back on the list and in the mean time they can establish all the procedures and actions that harm these animals knowing they will be "grandfathered" in if the animal is placed back on the list. $$$$$$ is what this sort of action is about.

[Javaman]

4. My tin foil hat starting glowing this morning and now I know why...

moron* and his room full of dopes will say this is a sign that one or the other of his bizarre environmental acts is working and that we are winning the war on climate change.

Sigh. once upon a time tin foil hat theories were crazy, but in the alternative universe that we all live in, they become real possibilities.

We were always at war with eurasia.

[Greylyn58]

5. Stories like this make me burn

I can't stand how the Shrub and his cronies over the last seven years have cut, poke, and shredded the Endangered Species Act. They have no souls.

It's bad enough what they are doing to our laws and freedoms, but when they try to do harm against those that need protection the most, I feel my anger turning to rage.

Manatees must remain on the list as endangered. They need the utmost protection. They are beautiful creatures that future generations should be able to see and enjoy.