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Bi-Partisan Florida Delegation Objects Manatee Status Downgrade

Photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
Photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

A bi-partisan group of eleven members of Florida’s congressional delegation have co-signed a letter objecting to the downgraded status of the West Indian manatee.

The manatee was downgraded last month from endangered to threatened. And that downgrade sparked U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan of Sarasota to write the letter to the Interior Secretary.

In it he points to widespread opposition from both the public and scientific community, and urges the Interior Secretary to restore the manatee’s endangered status.

The federal agency based its decision partly on gains in the manatee’s population and habitat.

Members of congress who signed the letter include Republican Daniel Webster, and Democrats Val Demings, Darren Soto and Stephanie Murphy.