This excerpt below is from the June 4, 2022 Tampa Bay Times.
Florida won’t save the manatees, Florida will kill them all. Let’s hope the Feds will do something.
Done right, this could induce the state of Florida to curb waterway pollution.
To this we say “ya think?”
Comments by OSFR historian Jim Tatum.
jim.tatum@oursantaferiver.org
– A river is like a life: once taken,
it cannot be brought back © Jim Tatum
SAVING THE MANATEE. Federal wildlife officials have agreed to reconsider what parts of Florida are most important to the state’s beloved manatees, which advocates hope is a critical step toward rebuilding the species. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will propose an adjustment to its definition of “critical habitat” for manatees by late 2024, under an agreement with several environmental groups to resolve a lawsuit over the matter. The lawsuit was meant to light a fire under the Fish and Wildlife Service to reexamine “critical habitat” that is essential to conserving the manatee, including estuaries and waterways such as Kings Bay at Crystal River. Advocates say the revision should identify not just places where manatees live, but specific elements they need to survive, like warm water from Florida springs and seagrasses to eat. Done right, this could induce the state of Florida to curb waterway pollution.
