Gov. Bush, congressman seek to head off federal manatee regulations

By Larry Wheeler
FLORIDA TODAY

WASHINGTON -- Gov. Jeb Bush and a Republican congressman are working to alter or delay federal regulations intended to protect Florida manatees.

They think the new rules proposed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will bring dock building to a halt in fast-growing southwest Florida, where many manatees have been killed and injured in collisions with boats.

"The idea of not allowing the building of docks in Southwest Florida is like saying the building of garages is responsible for road kill," said Rep. Porter Goss, R-Sanibel. "The issue is not boats or manatees -- it is boats and manatees."

A record 95 Florida manatees were killed in boat collisions last year.

Goss, a senior Republican lawmaker with close ties to the White House, said he wants to protect the manatee but thinks the federal government's solution would be an economic disaster for the state.

Federal officials and environmentalists contend new government regulations will not ban new dock building.

Goss met with Fish and Wildlife Service officials Thursday to stress his opposition to the proposed regulations. That followed a meeting in Washington last week between Florida's governor and Interior Secretary Gale Norton.

The Fish and Wildlife Service proposed a regulation that would somewhat streamline the Army Corps of Engineers procedure for approving dock and marina construction permits in most of Florida if the construction will have a negligible impact on the endangered manatee population.

Eric Glitzenstein, the attorney representing the Save the Manatee Club in federal court, said a dock ban is "a flat-out fabrication."

"People who say there is a moratorium are just trying to undermine protection for manatees," Glitzenstein said. "They are doing a disservice to manatees and to those who want their dock permits approved."

If the Fish and Wildlife Service continues to review each dock construction permit application on a case-by-case basis, as it has done in the past, there is every reason to expect most permits will be approved, Glitzenstein said.

Steve Webster, executive director of the Florida Marine Conctractor's Association, Inc., is less optimistic.

He said his association estimates the new manatee rules could result in $100 million in lost sales and 996 lost jobs in the first year alone.

"This takes what used to be a 3-to-4-month process, and makes it into what could take twice as long," Webster said.

The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service plans to write what it calls "biological opinions" for all projects in areas that could impact manatees, at least until more formal regulations are put in place later this year.

"Right now, we have an effective moratorium until the new permitting process is put in place," Webster said.

"Our hope is that the state will step in and intervene, immediately," he said.