Bowing to politics instead of science, Florida regulators are violating state law with unjustified restrictions on two Indian Rocks Beach basins.
At the request of the Indian Rocks Beach City Commission, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) proposed to limit boat speeds in these basins for the manatees, even though there are few, if any, manatees swimming in the basins. FWC’s own staff recommended against the slow-speed zones because of the infrequency of manatee sightings.
These man-made water basins are popular with boaters, water skiers, and jet skiers and the decision by the FWC will infringe on their rights and all who like having fun in these basins. Most residents believe that water recreation should continue, so that is why I asked Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF) to file a legal challenge on our behalf to the FWC’s proposed rule to stop the enforcement.
Who am I to do this? I am a resident of Indian Rocks Beach and a retiree. I own a home virtually adjacent to the two water basins at the center of our challenge. Like so many of my neighbors, my wife and I moved here to enjoy our retirement living on the water. Unfortunately, the City Commission’s decision to ask the FWC to dictate a slow-speed zone for the basins threatens to take away my very reason for moving to this beautiful community. One wonders whether the city commissioners understand the reason people love Indian Rocks Beach. If they do, they certainly aren’t taking that into consideration.
It’s important to note that the law does not support what the City Commission did. The Florida Manatee Sanctuary Act allows the FWC to impose manatee-related regulations only where manatees are “frequently” sighted and where the best available scientific information shows that manatees inhabit the waters. These criteria are not met in the two Indian Rocks Beach basins that are at issue in this challenge. The City Commission should have known this but chose instead to go ahead and ask the FWC to impose the slow-speed zones.
Ironically, the fact that the law does not allow for the imposition of slow-speed zones here was acknowledged by the FWC itself when it issued its draft of proposed regulations for Pinellas County waters. FWC staff argued specifically for excluding these two basins from regulation because “documented manatee use was relatively low in both areas compared to the rest of the area.” In fact, during the period of intensive aerial review by FWC staff, there were no manatee sightings in the northern section of the two basins, and no more than two in the southern basin. Based on these findings and recommendations, the FWC’s original proposed rule excluded both basins from boat speed regulations.
Then our local politicians intruded into the process. The Indian Rocks Beach City Commission asked the FWC to withdraw the exclusion and impose boat speed regulations on both basins. But the city officials’ request had nothing to do with manatees; instead, they wanted boat speed restrictions.
Late last month, the FWC complied with the request and on July 23, it published its intent to impose severe boat speed restrictions in both basins, from April to October of each year. My lawyers at PLF, who represent clients pro bono, agreed to take this case because they know the law should have led to a different result.
To be sure, and rightly so, the FWC has a mandate to protect manatees where significant numbers of manatees are found. But it also has a legal duty not to impose regulations where manatees are not found, or are rarely ever found. By playing politics and imposing unjustified mandates, agency officials are squandering their credibility. And they are ignoring their legal responsibility under the Manatee Sanctuary Act to avoid unduly interfering with the rights of recreationists such as fishermen, boaters, and water skiers, which the act protects.
I took this step of challenging this illegal rule because the FWC did not abide by the law and the legal limits on its power. By overstepping its authority, it is stepping on my rights and the rights of other residents to engage in responsible recreational activities as protected under Florida law. I am a member of the Audubon Society and worked for the Youth Conservation Corps. I love the environment, and I want it protected. But these boating restrictions are not about protecting the environment or the manatee. They’re about playing politics, and that’s not just wrong -- it’s illegal.
The City Commission has scheduled a meeting for Tuesday, Aug. 25, to discuss whether to let the FWC withdraw its request to include the basins in a manatee slow-speed zone. It is my hope that members of the community will attend this meeting and support me in this effort to protect our freedoms.
Bill Thomas was born in Washington, D.C., and raised in Arlington, Va. He received his B.S. degree in marketing research from Old Dominion University and master's degree from Florida Institute of Technology. With more than 30 years in a federal service career as a contracting officer at various federal agencies, he is now retired and living in Indian Rocks Beach, Fla.
