New trophy: the manatee

Last week, the state's manatees were hit with a double whammy. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission revised its rules, making it easier to change the sea cow's "endangered" status to a category that will offer less protection. The same day, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced that it will decide whether to remove the manatee from federal protection as an endangered species.

Just for good measure, Interior Secretary Gale Norton named a former chief lobbyist for Safari Club International to be acting director of the Fish and Wildlife Service. The club gives members awards for, among other things, bagging the African Big Five -- a leopard, an elephant, a lion, a rhino and a buffalo. Matthew J. Hogan wouldn't seem to have the best credentials for running an agency charged with protecting endangered species, even if the club's mission statement includes "promoting wildlife conservation worldwide." The state commission also has a Safari Club member on its board, along with developers. Conservation groups are not represented.

Pat Rose, lobbyist for Save the Manatee Club, said the manatee could not be "downlisted" or removed from federal protection under current criteria, but the club worries that regulators could make doing so even easier. For that to happen, federal agencies would have to decide that manatees are doing well throughout the state. About 16 percent of the manatee population, Mr. Rose said, is doing reasonably well. Another 40 percent in Southwest Florida, he says, is doing poorly. The condition of the east coast population is ambiguous, with conflicting science. Incomplete information means that there is a poor case for removing either state or federal protections.

The Fish and Wildlife Service has appointed a 120-member recovery team that for the first time includes representatives of the boating, marine, development and dock-building industries, along with manatee experts. Previous recovery teams, which study where the species is and make recommendations about listing to Ms. Norton, have been much smaller -- 15 to 20. In addition, the Fish and Wildlife Service has set a June deadline for information on manatees to be submitted and plans to make a decision in about six months. Given the tight time, it seems that the government is trying to engineer a manatee "solution" that helps humans but does little or nothing for the manatees.