State: Manatees' status still unsettled

Manatees' status still unsettled

A state panel puts off deciding whether they remain endangered.

By CRAIG PITTMAN, Times Staff Writer

FORT MYERS -- State wildlife commissioners on Thursday postponed for months a decision on whether to remove the manatee from Florida's list of endangered species, citing concerns about the science involved and the polarizing debate it has sparked.

Officials hope they can convene a "manatee summit" to resolve the bitterly divisive fight over the gentle creatures.

"It's important for us all to come together and do a little kum-ba-ya," said state Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Vice Chairman Rodney Barreto.

Unlike a hearing last month that drew 3,000 angry boaters to protest federal manatee rules, Thursday's meeting drew perhaps 100 to a county, Lee, where more manatees died last year than anywhere else. The commissioners spent much of the day debating what to do about "the manatee problem."

They were particularly concerned with what federal officials are likely to announce as part of a court settlement with environmental advocates today, an announcement that will occur while Gov. Jeb Bush is in Washington to discuss manatee issues with U.S. Interior Secretary Gale Norton. Bush wants the state to take the lead.

The commissioners repeatedly said they do not want Washington usurping the state's authority.

"We have wasted a tremendous amount of energy and time on manatees," said Chairman Edwin Roberts. Then, he complained, "the federal government jumps in and takes it out of our hands."

A study released last month by the Florida Marine Research Institute found that the manatee population could drop by half over the next 45 years. That's not sufficient under the state's criteria for them to qualify as endangered. Because the study found they would not become extinct within 100 years, manatees are at best merely "threatened."

Boating advocates want manatees dropped lower than that or taken off the list entirely, a first step toward blocking further regulation of the state's waterways. The wildlife commission is scheduled to begin considering new manatee rules for Tampa Bay this spring.

Boating advocates and environmental activists raised questions about the study, a rare show of agreement. Gil McRae, who heads the research institute, agreed that his scientists could use more time to refine their computer modeling. It will be at least September before the commission revisits the subject.