Staghorn, Elkhorn Now 'Threatened' Species: Staghorn and Elkhorn Coral Officially Became “threatened Species? Under the Endangered Species Act on Friday, the First Corals Ever Given the Protected Status.
Posted on: Monday, 12 June 2006, 12:00 CDT
By Kevin Wadlow, Florida Keys Keynoter, Marathon
Jun. 10--"Today marks the effective date for the listing," Sarah Heberling, a natural-resource specialist with the Protected Species Division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said Friday.
An intent was published last month in the Federal Register of the intent to make the designation, with a 30-day period before it became official.
"We call on all federal agencies to partner with coral reef biologists and ensure their actions aid in the recovery of Florida's corals," said Brent Plater with the Center for Biological Diversity.
The Center for Biological Diversity filed a lawsuit seeking a review process for the elkhorn and staghorn, two of the spectacular branching corals that symbolize the coral reef.
Species declared "endangered" under the Endangered Species Act are considered in danger of imminent extinction. As a threatened species, officials will take several months to work out a draft plan to protect elkhorn and staghorn.
Several dive operators at a Key Largo hearing held as part of the designation process said they feared that some areas could be declared off-limits to all visitation.
"Because we have the [Florida Keys] National Marine Sanctuary, we already have got the kind of protection we think they're looking to bring to other reefs in Florida," said Todd Firm, owner of the Keys Diver operation in Key Largo.
"The one thing that does concern me in the long run is the 'critical habitat' designation," Firm said. "It's not a reason for us to become alarmed, but it's a reason for us to be observant during the process."
Heberling said federal staff is trying to have proposed rules drafted by January. Recommendations for areas considered critical habitat must legally be forwarded by a year from the effective date, she said.
During the hearing process on elkhorn and staghorn, sessions in St. Thomas, U.S.V.I., and Fort Lauderdale drew the largest crowds of about 50 people, Heberling said.
"Now we're in the process of compiling all the information we gathered at the hearings, and boiling it down to start drafting [Section] 4(d) rules and looking at critical habitat," she said.
Coral-protection rules eventually forwarded under the designation have to go through a separate hearing and review process.
Reef Relief and other conservation groups alerted the government about widespread losses among the corals.
The Center for Biological Diversity points to global warming as a prime suspect in worldwide coral deaths. The federal government has not agreed to that contention.
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Copyright (c) 2006, Florida Keys Keynoter, Marathon
Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.
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Source: Florida Keys Keynoter, Marathon, Fla.
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