FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FORT
MYERS, Fla. (December 17,
2002) – Lee County is posting a new federal manatee zone at the mouth of the
Caloosahatchee River and also is asking boaters to be particularly vigilant of
manatee zones during the next several months to keep mortalities down and end a
moratorium on boat dock permits.
At the request of the
federal government, County Commissioners agreed today to use county staff and
resources to post – as a slow speed zone – the 80-acre Shell Island Manatee
Refuge in the Caloosahatchee River (basically from mile markers 93 to 99).
The federal government will reimburse the county’s cost.
The area was the only protection zone identified in Lee and Collier
counties in a court-ordered settlement between the federal government and the
Save the Manatee Club.
The signs that now
say “25 mile per hour speed zone” will be replaced Wednesday (Dec. 18) with
“Slow speed zone” signs. There
will be a 60-to-90 day education period before strict enforcement of the zone by
law enforcement.
The county also is
asking boaters to be extra vigilant of manatees during the next several months
as the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service moves through its process of rule-making
for extra manatee protections in Southwest Florida.
The result of those rules so far has been a virtual moratorium on boat
dock permitting. If mortality rates
remain low, however, there is a better chance the moratorium may be lifted.
The county
coordinates and maintains more than 700 speed zone signs for manatee zones.
To learn more about the locations of manatee speed zones, visit www.lee-county.com/naturalresources/manatee.htm.
The Board of Lee County Commissioners today also asked staff to complete
a county Manatee Protection Plan for state review by the end of January and
agreed to send the following letters from the Board’s Chairman:
1. To the Secretary of the Interior requesting a meeting with Secretary level staff to discuss a resolution to the moratorium and outlining previous unsuccessful requests for guidance from the Department on measures to improve manatee protection and reinstate permit processing.
2.
To the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service requesting to be granted
cooperator status and have the Chairman or his designee appointed to the Working
Group on Watercraft-related Incidental Take and the Law Enforcement Committee.
These requests, if granted, will allow the county to have a participatory
role as the final federal policies and Marine Mammal Protection Act rules are
defined.
3. To the Governor asking that all available state resources be applied to evaluate the existing science of manatee protection, specifically the status of the population of manatees in Southwest Florida. The evaluation should be completed prior to the comment deadline for the Marine Mammal Protection Act rule making.