by Megan butler
June 1, 2022
Introduction:
Read more here: https://www.courthousenews.com/feds-ag ... tections/ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (Courthouse News) — The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service committed on Wednesday to revise the critical habitat designation for endangered Florida manatees by September 2024 in a legal agreement with conservation nonprofits.
The Wildlife Advocacy Project, the Center for Biological Diversity, Defenders of Wildlife and Save the Manatee Club — jointly founded by musician Jimmy Buffett and former U.S. Senator and Florida Governor Bob Graham — filed a petition in December 2008 calling for revisions of the Florida manatee’s critical habitat under the Administrative Procedure Act and Endangered Species Act.
The Florida manatee was one of the first species to be listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act, which designated critical manatee habitat for protection in 1976.
After decades of significant changes in coastal development, industrial growth and increased recreational use of the manatees’ nearshore habitats, new understanding of their defined critical habitats is expected to help restore them and improve the species’ recovery.
A record-setting 1,100 Florida manatees died in 2021, mostly due to starvation caused by water pollution in the Indian River Lagoon according to the Center for Biological Diversity. The species continues to face significant threats to its survival throughout Florida, where harmful algae and the loss of seagrass and warm-water refuges, such as springs, continue to shrink its habitat.