Florida fighting ruling on manatee protections
A new showdown is brewing over manatee protection.
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection is fighting back on a ruling requiring Florida to step up protections. It involves a series of steps aimed at reducing the threats manatees face in the Indian River Lagoon.
The Florida manatee is already listed as a threatened species. But last month, a central Florida conservation group, Bear Warriors United, got something more.
'The Endangered Species Act allows individuals, businesses, governments, anybody who is going to engage in an activity that's going to result in death or harm to a federally listed species, to go to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and say, 'Hey, we're doing this,'' said plaintiff attorney Lesley Blackner.
The state was ordered to start a health assessment program and a supplemental feeding effort to support the manatee population in the northern part of the lagoon starting this month.
The state will also have to submit public quarterly reports on manatee deaths, water quality, seagrass conditions and harmful algae blooms. The court also ordered a temporary halt on new septic system permits in part of the lagoon watershed starting July 17.
'It's plaintiff's position that the court made the correct decision because what's happened in the lagoon is a catastrophe,' blackner said.
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection disagrees, saying the state has invested nearly $747 million in community-led projects in the region to improve water quality and restore habitat, which is especially critical in ecosystems like Indian River Lagoon.
The state is now asking a federal appeals court to halt that district judge's injunction, saying in part 'The indefinite moratorium on the construction of new septic systems further threatens to impede commercial and residential development in the state.'
Bear Warriors United filed the original lawsuit in 2022 after Florida had a record 1,100 manatee deaths in 2021, with the largest number in Brevard County at 358 deaths.
Many deaths were linked to starvation.
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