Chapter III — Species of Special Concern 
the annual CARL program budget presently is devoted 
to acquisitions benefiting manatees. 
At the Commission’s review, a representative of 
the Florida Department of Natural Resources, Divi- 
sion of State Lands, reported that, since 1963, the 
State has spent approximately $500 million to acquire 
250,000 acres of land important to manatees. Particu- 
larly important purchases have been made along and 
near the Crystal River on the west coast, around 
Rookery Bay in southwest Florida, near Blue Springs 
on the upper St. Johns River, and at several locations 
along the east coast. 
To carry land acquisition efforts into the 21st 
century, the State has embarked on a 10-year bond 
program called Preservation 2000. The program 
envisions $300 million per year for land acquisitions, 
half of which would be allocated to the CARL pro- 
gram. Among the projects most important to mana- 
tees now on the State’s land acquisition priority list 
are a project along the Crystal River on the west 
coast, two projects on the upper St. Johns River 
between Lake George and Lake Monroe, and a project 
along the banks of the Sebastian River on Florida’s 
east coast. 
The Fish and Wildlife Service also has successfully 
met manatee conservation objectives through acquisi- 
tion of habitat for National Wildlife Refuges. Since 
1980, the Service has purchased lands along the lower 
Suwannee River, in Kings Bay at the head of the 
Crystal River, and, most recently, along the lower 
Homosassa River. During the review, representatives 
of the Service reported on a new refuge-related 
initiative to explore further acquisitions along the 
Crystal River. 
Permit Reviews — Section 7 of the Endangered 
Species Act requires Federal agencies to consult with 
the Fish and Wildlife Service to identify and avoid 
possible effects of their activities on endangered 
species, such as manatees, for which the Service is 
responsible. To meet this responsibility, the Service 
consults with the Corps of Engineers to evaluate 
individual and cumulative effects on manatees and 
manatee habitats of proposed marinas, docks, bulk- 
heads, and other dredge and fill projects. Such work 
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typically requires a permit from the Corps under 
section 404 of the Clean Water Act. A parallel permit 
system is administered by the Florida Department of 
Environmental Regulation in consultation with the 
Department of Natural Resources. 
Hundreds of permit applications for work in 
manatee habitat are submitted and reviewed annually. 
For projects that may affect or are likely to affect 
manatees or their habitat adversely, the Service is 
obligated to provide to the Corps a biological opinion 
on possible effects and mitigation measures. To help 
identify which applications are of concern to mana- 
tees, the Service has developed and provided to the 
Corps a reviewer checklist. Over the past three years, 
the Service has written formal biological opinions on 
nearly 100 applications per year. The opinions have 
recommended actions ranging from permit denial or 
project modification, in cases judged likely to affect 
manatees or their critical habitat, to permit approval 
with certain manatee conservation measures included 
in cases where project effects are deemed controllable. 
During the Commission’s review, representatives 
of the Service and the Corps described the extent to 
which advice provided in the Service’s biological 
opinions has been adopted. The Corps has adopted 
most but not all of the Service’s recommendations. In 
particular, the Corps has declined to include some 
identified conservation measures as permit conditions 
(e.g., restricting the use of some boat slips in marinas 
to sailboats) because of enforcement difficulties. In 
addition, many measures that have been included as 
permit conditions by the Corps appear to have been 
disregarded by permit holders. 
To resolve these problems, the Corps is taking 
steps to contract for permit compliance inspections, 
and the State is increasing its compliance inspection 
efforts. In addition, the Service, the Corps, and the 
Florida Department of Natural Resources are devel- 
oping checklists to ensure that permits issued are 
consistent with county manatee protection plans. 
Steps also are being taken to ensure that Federal and 
State permits are consistent with the interim State 
boating facility policy that now limits construction of 
new powerboat slips in the 13 key manatee counties to 
one slip per 100 feet of shoreline. 
