to use those funds, the Commission and its Committee of 

 Scientific Advisors met with representatives of involved 

 Federal agencies, State agencies, and private organizations 

 in February 1980. Consensus was reached among the participants 

 on the future direction of the manatee recovery program. 



Based on those intensive planning efforts, the Commission 

 allocated the special appropriation among such urgently needed 

 projects as: the salary for a person (subsequently called 

 the Manatee Recovery Activities Coordinator) to coordinate 

 all efforts; development of a site-specific research and manage- 

 ment plan for Crystal River manatees; support for a Manatee 

 Technical Advisory Council to advise the Director of the Florida 

 Department of Natural Resources on critical manatee issues; a 

 study of food sources and feeding habits in Hobe Sound; a 

 training program for Florida Marine Patrol officers and others 

 on manatee biology and the enforcement of manatee protection 

 laws; and increased information and education activities. 

 While these activities were getting underway, the Fish and 

 Wildlife Service completed its West Indian Manatee Recovery 

 Plan in 1980 and its implementation plan (the Comprehensive 

 Work Plan) in 1982. 



Significant benefits resulted from the actions taken in 

 the early 1980s. For instance, new information on manatee 

 biology and ecology had been collected, a refined under- 

 standing of threats to manatee recovery had been developed, 

 public awareness and concern for manatees had been increased, 

 accumulating management experience was providing new insights 

 into what could and should be done to assure the species' 

 survival, and other agencies and organizations, particularly 

 the Florida Department of Natural Resources, were assuming 

 increasingly prominent roles in the manatee recovery program. 

 At the same time, however, some of the most critical problems 

 (e.g., record numbers of boat kills and increasing loss and 

 degradation of essential habitat) had not been resolved and 

 prospects were that these situations would worsen. Thus, 

 despite the efforts of Federal, State, and private groups, 

 the long-term survival of the West Indian manatee in the 

 United States remained tenuous. 



By late 1986, it was clear that the time had come for 

 another comprehensive review of the entire situation. There- 

 fore, the Commission decided to devote its 1987 Annual Meeting 

 primarily to discussions of the West Indian manatee. The 

 meeting was held in Florida on 10-12 December 1987. This was 

 to provide representatives of the principal Federal and State 

 agencies and private organizations cooperating in the manatee 

 conservation program an opportunity to cooperatively review and 

 re-examine priority needs and agree on future actions. 



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