proposed boundaries of the site be extended southward along 

 the coast to the Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge 

 and, insofar as possible, up the rivers used by manatees so 

 as to include most of the summer/migratory habitat used by 

 the northwest Florida manatee population. 



Another important and as yet unresolved question 

 involving habitat protection centered on efforts by the 

 Coast Guard to relocate its Lake Worth Station in Florida 

 from Peanut Island to a site at 59th Street in West Palm 

 Beach. On 11 May 1981, the Commission wrote the Commandant 

 of the U.S. Coast Guard to advise the agency that the 

 Commission had recently learned that the Coast Guard might 

 be considering establishing a station near the Riviera Beach 

 power plant. The Commission pointed out that the area is 

 heavily used by manatees and that its use as a staging area 

 for Coast Guard search and rescue craft would pose a serious 

 threat to the species' well-being. Since collisions with 

 boat hulls and propellers have been a major cause of manatee 

 mortality in the past, the Commission expressed its hope 

 that the Coast Guard would base its craft elsewhere so as to 

 minimize such threats. 



By letter of 1 March 1982, the Seventh Coast Guard 

 District wrote to the Commission indicating that it was 

 continuing its analysis of the proposed development and use 

 of the 59th Street site and that it was requesting information 

 on possible environmental impacts and relationships with 

 Commission plans, programs, and policies. On 29 March 1982, 

 the Commission, in consultation with its Committee of 

 Scientific Advisors, responded to the Coast Guard's request 

 by noting that: the manatee is among the most endangered 

 marine mammals in U.S. coastal waters; approximately 10 

 percent of the total southeastern U.S. manatee population 

 congregate in the waters adjacent to the Riviera Beach power 

 plant during cold winter periods; the waters around the 

 power plant and the 59th Street site are included within the 

 area that has been designated as critical habitat for manatees 

 under the Endangered Species Act and are also afforded 

 special protection under the Florida Manatee Sanctuary Act 

 through annual regulation of boat traffic between 15 November 

 and 15 March; collisions with boat hulls and propellers are 

 the major cause of human-caused manatee mortality in Florida; 

 and, among other possible direct and indirect effects, high- 

 speed boat operations, such as those necessary for Coast 

 Guard search and rescue operations, are likely to result in 

 serious injury and mortality to some manatees if the 59th 



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