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Judge grants more time to protect manatees
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service now has until July 23 to submit a new timetable.
©Associated Press
July 16, 2002
WASHINGTON -- A federal judge granted the Bush administration another week to propose a new timetable for protecting endangered manatees from boaters off the coast of Florida.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, facing a Monday deadline, said it learned over the weekend that it now has until July 23 to submit a new timetable to U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan.
Sullivan ruled last week that the administration failed to abide by a court-approved plan. He said Fish and Wildlife's delays in creating safe havens for manatees violate a court-approved settlement last year with environmentalists who sued to protect the creatures.
A new hearing in the case is scheduled before Sullivan on July 31.
Fish and Wildlife officials said Monday the agency requested the extension after being caught off-guard, not anticipating Sullivan would rule before July 23, when the hearing was originally scheduled.
"However, we take his ruling very seriously and are carefully reviewing his decision," agency officials said in a brief statement.
Fish and Wildlife created two refuges, but deferred to Florida Gov. Jeb Bush by delaying establishing another 14, so state officials could first put in their own protections.
Researchers say at least 186 manatees were killed this year so far, 30 percent due to watercraft collisions.
Boaters say environmentalists overstate the threats to manatees, which are listed as an endangered species by the government. They challenge the need for protections such as slow-speed zones and areas prohibiting watercraft.
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