Manatees may lose endangered status

MIAMI – The Florida manatee, this state’s imperiled environmental icon, last year suffered its most dismal year on record.

Of a population of about 3,200, 416 died in 2006, the highest number of deaths recorded in 30 years of statistics. Many died in collisions with boat propellers.

Now, according to an internal memo, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has been drafting plans under which the celebrated marine mammals would lose their protection as an endangered species.

The planned reclassification of the slow-moving sea cows from “endangered” to “threatened” is expected to elicit a barrage of criticism from environmental groups who see it as a part of the Bush administration’s push to poke holes in the Endangered Species Act.

The new status would make it easier to loosen boating speed limits and restrictions on waterfront development that have been instituted to make Florida safe for the species, environmental leaders said.

According to the memo sent from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to the White House, the agency was going to say that the manatee “no longer meets the definition of an endangered species.”

“In Florida, manatees are exhibiting positive growth rates and high adult survival rates along the entire east coast and in the northwest region,” the memo said. “There is still uncertainty about the status of manatees in the southwest region of the state.”

The agency had reached those conclusions after completing a “Five-Year Review” of manatees. But an agency spokesman, while confirming that the recommendation in the memo, dated March 26, reflected the agency’s thinking at the time, said it was possible it might be altered by the time the review is released later this month.

He deferred comment about the matter until the review is released.

By all accounts, the Florida manatee population has increased since the 1970s. The imposition of boating speed limits or “no wake zones” is believed to have reduced collisions. At the same time, development restrictions helped limit construction in manatee habitats. But the species continues to face threats from increased boating traffic, red tide outbreaks and waterfront development.