What's New
The Florida manatee is a treasured and iconic symbol of natural
Florida. Unfortunately, threats to the Florida manatee from habitat destruction and watercraft collisions are on the rise.
Recently, Gov. Crist vetoed legislation (HB 7059) that would have threatened protection for seagrasses,
which are critically important food sources for our endangered
manatees. A coalition of conservation groups, including
Environment Florida, wrote a letter to Gov. Crist, urging him to veto the bill, and we applauded the governor for
doing the right thing.
As he noted in his veto letter, provisions in the bill
could have also allowed the destruction of cypress forests along rivers and
lakes, salt marshes along tidal streams and estuaries, mangrove forests along
the coast, and coral reefs.
How You Can Help
Sign up to receive future action alerts to protect Florida’s endangered and threatened species.
The Endangered Species Act is one of our must successful and valuable
environmental laws. For more than 30 years, the Endangered Species Act has
served as a safety net for wildlife, fish and plants on the brink of extinction.
In that time, the Act has a near perfect record of protecting hundreds of
species from extinction, including the bald eagle, Florida panther, the
manatee and many more.
In order to protect
species from extinction, we must maintain a strong and effective Endangered
Species Act. (Click here for more on why
we need a strong Endangered Species Act.)
That is why Environment Florida is working to make sure that Florida's elected officials enforce the Endangered Species Act and stop any attempts to weaken
or undermine the necessary protections the Act provides for our state’s
imperiled wildlife.
