Officials exploring new manatee protection
MELBOURNE (AP) – Federal officials are revisiting the 1976 list of critical habitat areas for manatees.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service insists new critical habitat areas won’t automatically mean more restrictions on the water.
Environmental groups have long petitioned for more protection for the gentle animals, but contractors worry the areas under consideration include prime spots where land owners might want a dock or other structure – and the permitting process would become even tougher.
“It is simply a means of trying to tie up the status quo in more knots,” said Steven Webster, former head of the Florida Marine Contractors Association. “When you create new designation in areas, you suddenly find that regulators do not know how to apply those new designations in those areas.”
Besides his business interest in the matter, Webster also lives on one of the waterways being considered as critical habitat.
The environmental groups want the “critical habitat” list to include more specific areas, as well as the reasons for listing them.
“It just ensures a more official review,” said Pat Rose, executive director of the Save the Manatee Club.
Current “critical habitat” in the Melbourne area on Florida’s central Atlantic Coast includes general geographic areas: the Banana River and all waterways between Indian and Banana River; and the entire inland section of the Indian River Lagoon.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife officials say “critical habitats” don’t always require permitting changes. Sometimes they’re just intended to raise awareness.
“If manatees occur in the area, you may have to jump through that hoop anyway, regardless if that’s critical habitat,” said Chuck Underwood, spokesman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The Fish and Wildlife Service hopes to decide by December whether to expand the critical habitat areas.