Manatee Protection Lawsuit Filed in Federal Court

[Bonobo]

Source: Environment News Service

WASHINGTON, DC, January 23, 2008 (ENS) - Even as it seeks to downgrade protections for the endangered Florida manatee, the Bush administration is withholding records about how well key protections are being implemented, claims a lawsuit filed Tuesday by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, PEER, a national nonprofit association of government workers in natural resource agencies.

For the past 11 months has been fruitlessly seeking records about the status of efforts to prevent boating deaths, the leading cause of manatee mortality, and stop harassment of manatees by swimmers.

Despite a record number of manatee deaths in 2006 and a high level in 2007, PEER alleges that the Bush administration is "pushing to downgrade the manatee from endangered status, which will facilitate construction of marinas and other development inside critical Florida coastal habitat areas."

"The manatee protection information we are requesting is precisely the sort of data the Fish and Wildlife Service should be actively tracking - they should not have to go on an archaeological expedition to dig it up," Draper said, noting that the State of Florida recently shelved its own efforts to downgrade the protective status of the manatee. "We are not going away until we get our questions answered."



Read more: http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jan2008/2008-01-23-093.asp

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[Bonobo]

1. Who is going to stop these Floridians!

They are barbarians!

[BeFree]

2. Why do we need more manatees?

I have heard that manatee steaks are delicious and that one cow could feed a poor fisherman's family of four for a month. But ever since that food resource has been depleted the poor fisherman can no longer feed his family those steaks.

So who's hurt the most (besides the manatee)? Once again, the poor people.

If there were enough manatees in the wild to ensure survival of the specie, then the state could issue a permit to take an occasional cow.

And future citizens would be able to experience the unique thrill of being close to such a magnificent creature.

Or the poor people can continue to lose all there is to the rich and famous.

[Bonobo]

3. Very interesting post!

You should post more. You have a lot to say on the subject.

[OneBlueSky]

7. humankind monetizes everything in nature until it is destroyed . . .

suggesting manatees should be protected in order to provide another food source helps perpetuate the idea that humans have the right to do whatever they wish with the planet's wildlife . . . we've been doing that for centuries, and look where it's gotten us . . . or where it's gotten the wildlife . . .

just because we can do something doesn't mean that we should . . .

[ForrestGump]

8. Are you serious?

Manatees -- all sirenians -- are on their way out. They were dying so quickly a few years back that the wildlife scientists charged with censusing them couldn't even keep up.

Manatees are supremely cool to meet underwater (albeit initially terrifying if, like me, you ever saw Jaws and your encounters were in murky Florida Bay where you were focused on observing smaller fishes and not expecting a behemoth to heave into view through the murk) and, to my mind, they deserve protection for their inherent worth...their diminishing numbers, though, warrants them full protection and anyone who seeks to undermine that is a criminal in Nature's courtroom.

They're not a sustainable food source. I don't know exactly how many poor fishers are living along the west coast of Florida and thereabouts, but I suspect the numbers are low and that other sources of protein are available that do not require any greater monetary investment. Nobody needs to eat a manatee.

[Omaha Steve]

4. Proud to be the 5th R

I can't understand why man is so destructive to Mother Earth.

[Bonobo]

6. Thank you. nt

[flashl]

5. K&R n/t