Dance of the Reptiles by Carl Hiaasen Read Free Book Online

slow down.
    * Fishermen who don’t like to be told where to fish.
    * Trade groups whose members sell fast boats and fishing tackle.
    While the efficacy of some manatee protection measures can and should be debated, it’s ridiculous to argue that the critter is no longer endangered.
    Florida has more than 800,000 registered boats and only about 3,200 sea cows. Even when you’re lucky enough to see one in the wild, it’s usually striped with prop scars.
    Advocates of “delisting” cite an increase in the manatees counted during aerial surveys. They say that the population has reached a level at which strict regulations are no longer necessary. In other words, there are enough manatees swimming around that we can start killing them off again with impunity.
    The Fish and Wildlife Service recently bucked its own scientists by approving a plan that would allow the delisting of manatees even if their population wasn’t growing.
    The FWS said that an annual mortality of 200 to 300 adult males is acceptable (to all, presumably, except the doomed manatees). Meanwhile, state wildlife officials also have agreed to reassess the species’ designation as endangered.
    The irony is, there wouldn’t be any sea cows left to argue about if they hadn’t been protected for the last three decades.No less important than the laws and the speed zones is the heightened public awareness that resulted.
    Today the manatee is a beloved Florida icon, celebrated with license plates, Jimmy Buffett tunes, and cuddly stuffed toys. Homely as they are, sea cows are adored by tourists and natives alike.
    Idling my boat through a channel instead of racing full throttle is a small sacrifice for the thrill of sharing the water with these ancient and fascinating behemoths.
    In 1999, the year that glib Mr. Hopping and the marine manufacturers declared war, 82 manatees were killed by boaters—the most ever. During the last 23 months, 150 more have perished by propeller.
    Such sad accidents are inevitable. Sea cows go wherever they please, and it’s impossible to protect them all the time. That doesn’t mean that we should stop trying.
    Despite what lobbyists say, saving a few more manatees won’t endanger Florida’s huge marine industry. With input from anglers and boaters, as well as biologists, it shouldn’t be hard to come up with a sensible long-term plan.
    How many manatees is enough? What an insipid question.
    It’s more appropriate to ask just how many Wade Hoppings we need.
    May 16, 2004
    Fishy Tale About Timber Lobbyist, Wild Salmon
    President Bush has found an intriguing way to skate around the Endangered Species Act, the wildlife-protection law that has caused so many headaches for his pals in timber, oil, and real-estate development.
    In a move that surprised residents of the Pacific Northwest,the administration has decided to start counting hatchery fish when determining whether certain types of wild salmon should remain on the federal endangered list.
    This proposal didn’t come from biologists, many of whom consider hatchery fry to be genetically inferior to wild salmon. Nor did the plan come from the administration’s own appointed panel of experts, whose findings were dismissed by the president’s men.
    Actually, it was a lawyer named Mark C. Rutzick who first dreamed up the idea of including hatchery-bred salmon when counting the species. The intent was to boost the reported fish population to such levels that the species might be removed from the endangered list and no longer be protected.
    At the time, Rutzick’s prize clients were timber companies, often under fire for trashing streams and rivers. He led the fight against conservation rules intended to protect fish and animal habitats from the effects of forestry operations.
    Presented with such credentials, it’s no wonder that President Bush appointed Rutzick as a legal adviser to the National Marine Fisheries Service. Who better than an agent of the logging industry to