I’m a few days later in posting this (sorry!), so for the latest news on the September 12 vote, visit Save the Manatee Club’s current news section. They don’t appear to have an update posted yet, but I imagine they will as news develops.

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Save the Manatee Club - action [at] savethemanatee.org
Date: Sep 11, 2007 3:51 PM
Subject: Gov. Crist Asks to Postpone Manatee Reclassification

BREAKING NEWS!

Florida Governor Crist Asks State Agency to Postpone Endangered Manatee’s Reclassification

Tomorrow, September 12th, the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) is scheduled to vote on whether to reclassify the manatee at the state level from “endangered” to “threatened” status based on listing/delisting rule language that environmental groups have continually called greatly flawed, and that was objected to by numerous scientists worldwide. Further, environmentalists point to the state’s own findings that 50% of the statewide manatee population could be lost in the next 45 years.

Calling the manatee one of Florida’s beloved natural resources, Florida Governor Charlie Crist has issued a letter to Rodney Barreto, Chair of the FWC, asking the Commission to postpone the vote on whether to downlist the species, “…given the need for a better method to estimate the population of the Florida Manatee, and the record 417 manatee deaths in 2006, I believe a more prudent course of action at this time would be to postpone consideration of the proposed change in the status of this species.”

View the full text of Governor Crist’s letter (pdf).

Patrick Rose, Save the Manatee Club’s Executive Director, applauds Governor Crist and expresses his deep appreciation to the governor for his action. Pat also thanks all of you for your help in making this happen. Those e-mails, letters and phone calls DO help!

What You Can Do:

Please contact the Governor’s office and add your thanks to Pat’s (see contact information below).

* Thank Governor Crist for asking the Commission to postpone their vote to downlist manatees.

* Urge Governor Crist to revisit Florida’s listing/delisting rule criteria for imperiled species in order to give endangered manatees and other imperiled plants and animals a fair shake.

Please Note: If you were planning to attend the FWC meeting in St. Petersburg tomorrow, please do not cancel your plans. It is still important to show strong support for manatees. If you planned to speak, the Commission will still take your testimony.

Governor Charlie Crist
PL-05 The Capitol
Tallahassee, FL 32399-0001
Phone: 850-488-7146
Fax: 850-487-0801
E-mail: Charlie.Crist [at] MyFlorida.com

Thank you so much for your help and support for manatees!

Sign up for our free Paddle Tales E-Newsletter: Go to www.savethemanatee.org/enews_signup.htm

Our postal address is:

500 N. Maitland Ave.
Maitland, Florida 32751
United States

About SMC

Save the Manatee Club is a nonprofit organization founded in 1981 by former Florida Governor and U.S. Senator Bob Graham and singer Jimmy Buffett. To learn more about manatees and our work, go to www.savethemanatee.org

Join Us!

Adopt-A-Manatee and join Save the Manatee Club. Your contribution will support our work to help protect endangered manatees and their habitat. For more information, go to www.savethemanatee.org/adoptpag.htm

Pass It Along

Help spread the word about manatees! Please forward this action alert to your family and friends. If you got this message from a friend, sign up to receive our Action Alerts at our Take Action page at www.savethemanatee.org/action.htm

Questions?

You can get updates on Action Alert issues by visiting the Take Action page of our web site. If you have additional questions, email us at action [at] savethemanatee.org

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Tagged: animals animal rights animal welfare action alerts save the manatee club manatees wildlife conservation florida fwc Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission Charlie Crist Governor Crist endangered endangered species esa endangered species act