Deadline to Comment on Reclassification Proposal for Manatees is April 7
By Space Coast Daily // March 28, 2016
BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA — Time is running for the public to weigh in on a proposal to downgrade West Indian manatees from an “endangered” to a “threatened” species.
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, which proposed the change in January, is accepting public comments at 1.usa.gov/1ShdWgY. The deadline to comment is at 11:59 p.m. April 7.
The service said all comments will be read after the deadline. The service also is awaiting additional input from marine biologists across the Caribbean, Central and South America, where manatees also are found.
The West Indian manatee was classified as endangered in March 1967. Since there, their population has increased, prompting the downgrade proposal.
