Trade group will fight manatee protections

State marine interests want the mammals off the endangered list.

By JULIE HAUSERMAN

© St. Petersburg Times, published September 30, 1999

TALLAHASSEE -- Claiming that the number of manatees in Florida is growing, the state's largest marine business interests have quietly formed a group to try to get the sea cows removed from the federal endangered species list.

"Perhaps the time has come to delist the manatee, much as the alligator and the eagle have been delisted," reads a Sept. 3 memo penned by Wade Hopping, a top business lobbyist who represents the National Marine Manufacturers Association.

Scientists working to protect manatees say the idea of stripping away protections is ridiculous. Manatee populations may be stable or even growing a little in some locations, they say, but the number of boats is growing too.

This year, they predict, Florida will set a record for the number of manatees killed by boats.

The formation of Hopping's business group -- called the "Manatee Task Force" -- comes as 22 environmental groups are poised to sue the state and federal governments because, they say, manatee protection laws have not been properly enforced. State officials estimate there are about 2,500 manatees remaining in Florida's waters. The creatures have been on the endangered species list since 1967.

The Endangered Species Act allows Florida to impose a host of protections for manatees, from requiring boaters to slow down in places where manatees congregate to limiting development near their habitat.

Hopping was out of town Wednesday and could not be reached for comment. But on Sept. 3, he wrote the members of the new task force:

"Last week, the marine manufacturers and dealers met in Orlando. Manatees were foremost on their mind. They believe that they have been on the defense far too long, and therefore they are planning to create a proactive program on manatee issues. Their fear is that the thrust of all the manatee protection activities are designed to limit the number of docks and marinas, and to limit the number of boats that are on the water. Obviously, they have a tremendous interest in this issue."

Hopping's memo, written on the letterhead of his law firm, says that besides pushing to take manatees off the endangered species list, marine interests have two other goals: one is to get the Legislature to rewrite state law to exempt marinas from Florida's rigorous Development of Regional Impact review, which can require studies of imperiled plants and animals. The other is to take money from the state's Manatee Protection Trust Fund and use it to put more marine enforcement officers on the water to enforce speed limits. The money in the trust fund comes from sales of the specialty manatee license plate.

Hopping's memo says the new Manatee Task Force also wants to reach out to other groups, like the Florida Home Builders Association.

But the reception may be cool.

"None of us have heard anything about it," said Wellington Meffert, the home builders' lobbyist. "We really don't consider it to be our issue."

A gregarious and well-known fixture at the Capitol, Hopping has long been the nemesis of Florida environmentalists. He fought against the state's 1985 Growth Management Law. He opposed a bill that would have required propeller guards to protect manatees from passing boats. In 1997, he tacked an amendment on a bill that would have allowed a boat manufacturer to do high-speed testing in a canal that a state official called "the worst place in the state for manatee deaths."

Opponents leaked the amendment to the media, and the measure quickly died.

Judith Vallee, executive director of the Save the Manatee Club, said marine interests may be gathering the troops because of the mammoth lawsuit the 22 groups intend to file soon.

"They are claiming that we want to maybe limit the number of boats, but what we're really looking for is more enforcement of existing laws," Vallee said. "Obviously, what the agencies have been doing is just not enough."

The groups claim that even though Florida directed 13 counties to create special manatee protection plans in 1989, it has never enforced the law. Although 10 years have passed, only three counties have written their required manatee protection plans, Vallee said.

© St. Petersburg Times. All rights reserved.