SUMMARY OF ISSUE
Manatees would lose their status as endangered species under a proposal announced Thursday by federal wildlife managers, who say the marine mammals have made a robust recovery since first receiving protection in 1967. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service plans to reclassify the manatee from endangered to threatened in response to a review initiated by a petition from the Pacific Legal Foundation, a free-market legal advocacy group that represents property owners on Florida's Gulf Coast.
WHY ITS IMPORTANT
"Current population estimates are 6,350 manatees in the southeastern continental United States and 532 manatees in Puerto Rico," the wildlife service wrote in a notice to be officially published Friday. "These numbers reflect a very low percentage chance of this animal going extinct in the next 100 years." A species classified as threatened retains virtually the same protection against being killed, harmed or harassed as one classified as endangered. Government agencies must take them into account in approving construction or other activities that could affect them. No-wake zones and fines for boaters who ignore them will remain in place.
Manatees would lose their status as endangered species under a proposal announced Thursday by federal wildlife managers, who say the marine mammals have made a robust recovery since first receiving protection in 1967. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service plans to reclassify the manatee from endangered to threatened in response to a review initiated by a petition from the Pacific Legal Foundation, a free-market legal advocacy group that represents property owners on Florida's Gulf Coast.
WHY ITS IMPORTANT
"Current population estimates are 6,350 manatees in the southeastern continental United States and 532 manatees in Puerto Rico," the wildlife service wrote in a notice to be officially published Friday. "These numbers reflect a very low percentage chance of this animal going extinct in the next 100 years." A species classified as threatened retains virtually the same protection against being killed, harmed or harassed as one classified as endangered. Government agencies must take them into account in approving construction or other activities that could affect them. No-wake zones and fines for boaters who ignore them will remain in place.