Attention: Manatee 5-year Review: My Official Public Comments on the NOT "endangered" manatee
 
 
 
April 18, 2005
 
 
 
 
I could phone in my comments on the NOT "endangered" species, the manatee, but prefer this method of communication, so there'll be no doubts as to my words and understanding of this matter.
 
I don't presume to be an authority on manatees, but it's obvious to my layman's eyes that neither are the $ave the Manatee outfit or many in policy-making positions at your outfit.
 
The manatee has been made "endangered," it appears, only to more deeply feather several bureaucratic nests and to provide "job security" for others in the dot gov and dot us areas.
 
The manatee is not endangered by faster-moving boats, but rather by those moving slowly -- too slowly for the manatee to detect, just like the barges, until impact is imminent. Faster boats and faster speed zones are not only better for the manatee, but they are also better for those who truly care about manatees.
 
Manatee calves are put in harm's way by several current and questionable "science-based" policies, not the least of which are the warm-water outflows from power plants. These areas cause artificial gatherings of manatees and their young. These areas cause intensified fecal material from the manatees, who are clustering in a small area for the warmth of its waters. These areas cause calves to sicken and raise mortality rates.
 
It is not the boaters or the faster moving boats that causes the manatees grief. It is the policies currently in place that do nothing but relegate the manatee to an existence that is as far from natural as possible.
 
IF -- and this is a very big IF -- Florida Fish and Wildlife and its Wildlands Project implementing partners truly cared about manatees, the "slow speed zone" signs and "no wake signs" would come down TODAY. The very placement of the signs in traffic areas is a danger to both manatees and boaters alike, who must both take evasive action, often with little warning.
 
There is, in reality, no "federal protection" for any species -- in this case, the manatee -- whose policies are determined by shoddy science and fatally flawed dynamics.
 
If, in fact, Florida Fish and Wildlife actually SOUGHT OUT, ACCEPTED and USED "best available scientific and commercial information," the manatee would not even be ON the "endangered" species list.
 
You are each to note that I hereby include by reference -- as your own agency/employer is oft-wont to do -- each and every word of Tom McGill's book, The Florida Manatee: Conspiracy of Ignorance, which is readily available to those who care about manatees and seek to learn the TRUTH about them and the failed and DESIGNED TO FAIL policies that trap them. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0975294504/qid=1113857752/sr=1-2/ref

=sr_1_2/102-3534314-4496917?v=glance&s=books

 
 
Manatees do not care about "conservation," "restoration," or any of the other Language Deception words and phrases that are so often used when discussing them. Manatees care about living conditions that enhance their chances for survival. The current policies and regulations that surround manatees do very, very little, if anything, to help the manatees. Rather, such organizations as $ave the Manatees reap large profits -- not from the manatees' health and well-being, but from their continued imprisonment by the "Endangered Species Act" and its enforcers/implementers. If there was no monetary gain from "saving" the "endangered" manatees (and all other NOT "endangered" species), one must understandably question just how concerned such groups would be, "for" "saving" the manatee?
 
This ENTIRE email, including all headers, is to be construed and accepted as my Official Public Comments on the "Manatee 5-year Review" / Florida Manatee Recovery Plan.
 
Julie Kay Smithson
 
213 Thorn Locust Lane
 
London, Ohio
 
 
 
Service seeks public input for manatee five-year review

 

April 14, 2005


Release # 002-05


Media Contact: Chuck Underwood, 904-232-2580 x 109

 

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced today that it is conducting a five-year review of the Florida manatee, which is federally-protected as endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

The five-year review will assess the best available scientific and commercial information to determine how the manatee is faring since its original listing in 1967.

According to Dave Hankla, the Service's field supervisor for its North Florida Ecological Services Office in Jacksonville, the Service is particularly interested in new information which has become available since the last revision to the Florida Manatee Recovery Plan in 2001.

“There has been a tremendous amount of effort put into manatee conservation and research over the last several years,” Hankla said, “and this is an opportunity for our biologists and conservation managers to conduct a comprehensive review of the latest and best scientific and commercial data available.”

In the case of the Florida manatee, the Service is looking for new information related to five specific areas:

  • species biology, such as population trends, distribution, demographics and genetics;
  • habitat conditions such as amount, distribution and suitability;
  • conservation measures which have been implemented that benefit the species;
  • threat status and trends; and
  • other new information, data or corrections, such as improved analytical methods, nomenclatural changes, or identification of errors in the information contained in the original listing.

To be of greatest use to Service biologists conducting the review, any new information submitted should be supported by documentation such as maps, bibliographic references, methods used to gather the data, and/or copies of any pertinent publications, reports or letters from knowledgeable sources.

Five-year reviews allow the Service staff to determine if sufficient information is available to warrant a recommendation to either reclassify a species or even take it off the ESA list all together. According to Hankla any recommendation to change the manatee's status would only be considered if substantiated by the data and would not be made without due consideration.

“If after reviewing all the information, we determine nothing has changed, the manatee's status will remain Federally-listed as endangered,” Hankla said. “However, if the data substantiates that a reclassification or de-listing is warranted, we could recommend either. Any such decision to recommend reclassification or de-listing would require a separate rulemaking process which would include ample opportunity for public review and comment.”

The Federal Register notice announcing this solicitation of new information and data is available online at northflorida.fws.gov or may be requested by e-mail to manatee@fws.gov, by fax at 904/232-2404, by mail at U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Attn: Manatee Five-year Review, 6620 Southpoint Drive, Suite 310, Jacksonville, FL 32216-0958, or by telephone at 904-232-2580.

New information and comments may be mailed, hand-delivered, faxed, or submitted electronically. Please mail or deliver comments to the address or fax number listed above. Comments submitted electronically should be embedded in the body of the e-mail message itself or attached (please see Notice for details), and should not use special characters and encryption. Please include “Attention: Manatee 5-year Review” in your subject line, and your full name, return address, and, if appropriate, your company, government agency, or organization you represent, in your e-mail message. Comments submitted to manatee@fws.gov will receive an automated response confirming receipt of your message.

In order for biologists and conservation managers to have sufficient time to consider any new information, the information and any supporting data or documents must be received by the Service no later than June 13, 2005 .

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 95-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System, which encompasses 544 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 69 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resources offices and 81 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign and Native American tribal governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Assistance program, which distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.

 

http://northflorida.fws.gov/Releases-05/002-05-Notice-5-year-review-manatee-041405.htm