Manatee advocates favor proposed federal regulations linking boat-slip projects to manatee population growth but builders are worried they would cause financial ruin in southwest Florida.
The proposed federal regulations, part of a legal settlement between the US Fish and Wildlife Service and a coalition of environmental groups, will be debated during public hearings in Melbourne, Florida and Daytona Beach. Environmentalists say the Army Corps of Engineers has issued permits for years without considering impacts on manatees. Wildlife Service spokesman Chuck Underwood says counties such as Brevard and Volusia may only require additional speed zones and enforcement. Underwood predicts the hearings in those counties will be tame compared with hearings in southwest Florida. Underwood predicts a loss of nearly 1,000 jobs in five years in that part of the state, and plummeting waterfront property values.
Thanks to Sheryl Stolzenberg
FULL STORY: Dock proposal could help manatees but hurt builders
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