coast. At its March meeting, the Committee considered comments 

 by the Commission and others and voted to pursue listing the 

 project. 



As noted in previous Annual Reports, important progress has 

 been made in recent years to develop a network of protected areas 

 for manatees. Much of that progress has been possible as a 

 result of the Land Acguisition Selection Committee's admini- 

 stration of the Conservation and Recreation Lands Trust Fund. In 

 the process, coastal habitats, particularly wetlands, important 

 to many other endangered and non-endangered species also have 

 been protected. Recognizing the importance and urgency of land 

 acguisition for protecting manatees and its related benefits to 

 many other species, the Governor directed the Department of 

 Natural Resources to develop recommendations that would give 

 manatee-related land acguisition proposals added weight with 

 respect to Committee ranking and action. At a meeting of the 

 Florida Cabinet in November 1989, the Department presented its 

 recommendations for doing so and they were adopted. 



Priority research and management needs — Recognizing that 

 fiscal constraints would make it impossible to undertake all of 

 the needed tasks identified in the Revised Recovery Plan, the 

 Commission wrote to the Fish and Wildlife Service on 1 August 

 1989 identifying those tasks which it felt must be undertaken 

 immediately. In making its recommendations, the Commission noted 

 that it considered the recommended actions to be the absolute 

 minimum necessary to provide a reasonable hope of securing a 

 long-term future for manatees in the southeast United States. 



In its letter, the Commission recommended that the Service: 

 acquire certain lands along the Homosassa River and Kings Bay as 

 additions to the National Wildlife Refuge System and that it also 

 coordinate acquisition of areas along the Sebastian River with 

 the Florida Department of Natural Resources; fill the vacant 

 Manatee Coordinator position and provide two additional staff 

 members (including $80,000 for their salaries) to its Field 

 Office to help implement the revised Recovery Plan and review 

 development proposals affecting manatee habitat; increase the 

 budget for its manatee research program by $150,000 and provide 

 the research program with an additional staff member to tag and 

 track an additional 2 manatees per year; and also provide its 

 manatee research program with an additional $20,000 to speed 

 efforts to develop a geographic information system for manatees. 



In early October, the Commission learned that Congress had 

 appropriated additional funds to the Service for work on manatees 

 and certain other endangered species. As it had not yet received 

 a reply to its 1 August letter, the Commission wrote to the 

 Service on 10 October 1989 repeating its recommendations for 

 additional funding and staff to expand manatee radio-tracking 

 studies, implement provisions of the revised manatee Recovery 



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