Manatee update, Look out SW Florida!
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11-04-2002, 02:59 PM
#13
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ChrisK,
What makes you think it's not "Out of hand " now?
The fact of the matter is if you go research what the $MC wants to do and if they get their way, the St. Johns will be a LONG, VERY LONG IDLE ZONE! Enjoy the river while you can.
Here is some of what the $MC WANTS!
"Regulatory Changes As Proposed By
Save The Manatee Club 10/02/01
THESE CHANGES ARE IN ADDITION TO ZONES
PROPOSED IN THE FWC & USFW SETTLEMENT AGREEMENTS
In a memo obtained on Tuesday, 10/2/01, Save the Manatee urges people to turn out for the Charlotte County Commission meeting next Tuesday, the 9th of October. Folks are urged to attend to help SMC "persuade" the Commissioners to adopt the following rules for Charlotte County:
Peace River _ North of I-75 Bridge including Shell Creek _ "Slow Speed"
Peace River _ Between I-75 & U.S. 41 Bridge _ 25 MPH channel, "Slow Speed outside of channel
U.S. 41 to the mouth of the River _ º mile "Slow Speed" buffer zone, 25 MPH outside of buffer.
Turtle Bay _ Southern Portion _ "Motorboats Prohibited"
Turtle Bay _ Southeast corner outside of shoal area _ "Slow Speed" in channels
Turtle Bay _ Western Shoreline _ 300 foot "slow Speed" buffer
Turtle Bay _ Eastern Shoreline _ 500 foot "Slow Speed" buffer
Pirate Harbor _ "Slow Speed" throughout
Again, these proposed regulations are to be implemented IN ADDITION to State
plans to regulate areas of Lemon Bay and the Peace River.
We ask that interested boaters, business owners, and property owners attend this meeting to ask that reason, and balance, be considered when drafting any new regulations. As well, attendance will help you see what will eventually happen in your county. The public has got to stand up to this flagrant abuse of the manatee species as it is being used as a "growth management" tool by the radical animal rights groups, and the so-called "environmental" coalition.
The meeting will be held in the Charlotte County Administration Center, 18500 Murdock Circle, Port Charlotte, Florida _ meeting begins at 10:00. Please attend if you can.
As we have seen in Brevard County, Save the Manatee Club will not stop until all motorboat traffic in Florida is either totally regulated, severely reduced, or eliminated altogether. With the ink on the Settlement agreement with the State of Florida barely dry, the club is aggressively going County by County to fill in the gaps left by settlement language.
If the above scenario doesn¹t convince you, please note the following areas also mentioned in this same memo:
Jacksonville _ Reddie Point to Fuller Warren Bridge
Duval County _ the St. John¹s River
Duval County _ Goodby¹s Creek
Volusia County _ Tomoka River
Brevard County _ Banana River, Canaveral Sewer, Indian River, Railroad Bridge SE side of Causeway, Haulover Canal Observation area, Haulover Canal
Palm Beach _ Riviera Beach FPL Plant, ICW
Manatee County _ Braden River/manatee River
Lee County _ Bokeelia Point, Charlotte Harbor, Southern portion of San Carlos Bay, Caloosahatchee River, Mullock Creek / Ten Mile Canal, Estero Bay
Collier County _ Everglades National Park, Ten Thousand Islands, Fakaunion Canal, Chokoloskee Bay
The only way that we can defeat this two-decade long regulatory initiative is to
Stand up as a State-wide organization now _ at this meeting in Charlotte County. Then, we will stand up at the next venue _ possibly in Volusia, Lee, Hillsborough, or Collier County. We will then take our case to our Senators and Representatives, and ask for legislative relief from this abuse of the Endangered Species Act.
Please attend this meeting if you are able. If not, please watch for the next posted notice for a meeting in your area. We also ask that you contribute to the Standing Watch Legal Trust Fund, and help finance the defense of your rights as citizens, residents, tax-payers, and voters of the State of Florida.
Call toll-free (866)263-5015, or write to P.O Box 8357, Naples, Florida 34101-8357. You may e-mail us via standing-watch.org . Please support your fellow boaters."
See, what I'm talking about, the $MC will NEVER stop until all POWER BOATS are off the inland waterways in FL!!
MD
What makes you think it's not "Out of hand " now?
The fact of the matter is if you go research what the $MC wants to do and if they get their way, the St. Johns will be a LONG, VERY LONG IDLE ZONE! Enjoy the river while you can.
Here is some of what the $MC WANTS!
"Regulatory Changes As Proposed By
Save The Manatee Club 10/02/01
THESE CHANGES ARE IN ADDITION TO ZONES
PROPOSED IN THE FWC & USFW SETTLEMENT AGREEMENTS
In a memo obtained on Tuesday, 10/2/01, Save the Manatee urges people to turn out for the Charlotte County Commission meeting next Tuesday, the 9th of October. Folks are urged to attend to help SMC "persuade" the Commissioners to adopt the following rules for Charlotte County:
Peace River _ North of I-75 Bridge including Shell Creek _ "Slow Speed"
Peace River _ Between I-75 & U.S. 41 Bridge _ 25 MPH channel, "Slow Speed outside of channel
U.S. 41 to the mouth of the River _ º mile "Slow Speed" buffer zone, 25 MPH outside of buffer.
Turtle Bay _ Southern Portion _ "Motorboats Prohibited"
Turtle Bay _ Southeast corner outside of shoal area _ "Slow Speed" in channels
Turtle Bay _ Western Shoreline _ 300 foot "slow Speed" buffer
Turtle Bay _ Eastern Shoreline _ 500 foot "Slow Speed" buffer
Pirate Harbor _ "Slow Speed" throughout
Again, these proposed regulations are to be implemented IN ADDITION to State
plans to regulate areas of Lemon Bay and the Peace River.
We ask that interested boaters, business owners, and property owners attend this meeting to ask that reason, and balance, be considered when drafting any new regulations. As well, attendance will help you see what will eventually happen in your county. The public has got to stand up to this flagrant abuse of the manatee species as it is being used as a "growth management" tool by the radical animal rights groups, and the so-called "environmental" coalition.
The meeting will be held in the Charlotte County Administration Center, 18500 Murdock Circle, Port Charlotte, Florida _ meeting begins at 10:00. Please attend if you can.
As we have seen in Brevard County, Save the Manatee Club will not stop until all motorboat traffic in Florida is either totally regulated, severely reduced, or eliminated altogether. With the ink on the Settlement agreement with the State of Florida barely dry, the club is aggressively going County by County to fill in the gaps left by settlement language.
If the above scenario doesn¹t convince you, please note the following areas also mentioned in this same memo:
Jacksonville _ Reddie Point to Fuller Warren Bridge
Duval County _ the St. John¹s River
Duval County _ Goodby¹s Creek
Volusia County _ Tomoka River
Brevard County _ Banana River, Canaveral Sewer, Indian River, Railroad Bridge SE side of Causeway, Haulover Canal Observation area, Haulover Canal
Palm Beach _ Riviera Beach FPL Plant, ICW
Manatee County _ Braden River/manatee River
Lee County _ Bokeelia Point, Charlotte Harbor, Southern portion of San Carlos Bay, Caloosahatchee River, Mullock Creek / Ten Mile Canal, Estero Bay
Collier County _ Everglades National Park, Ten Thousand Islands, Fakaunion Canal, Chokoloskee Bay
The only way that we can defeat this two-decade long regulatory initiative is to
Stand up as a State-wide organization now _ at this meeting in Charlotte County. Then, we will stand up at the next venue _ possibly in Volusia, Lee, Hillsborough, or Collier County. We will then take our case to our Senators and Representatives, and ask for legislative relief from this abuse of the Endangered Species Act.
Please attend this meeting if you are able. If not, please watch for the next posted notice for a meeting in your area. We also ask that you contribute to the Standing Watch Legal Trust Fund, and help finance the defense of your rights as citizens, residents, tax-payers, and voters of the State of Florida.
Call toll-free (866)263-5015, or write to P.O Box 8357, Naples, Florida 34101-8357. You may e-mail us via standing-watch.org . Please support your fellow boaters."
See, what I'm talking about, the $MC will NEVER stop until all POWER BOATS are off the inland waterways in FL!!
MD
11-04-2002, 04:49 PM
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My Dad retired 4 years ago and live by the US 41 bridge on the Pease River. Never seen a sea cow yet and he fishes 2-3 times a week. He would like to see one. But this is just stupid.
11-04-2002, 05:30 PM
#15
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Dean , Whats going on , besides all the manatee problems with Fl. ,How are you and the misses doing , No Fl with the boat this year due to lack of funds, but I will be down in Feb. for the boat show and the 500. Tom
11-05-2002, 06:39 AM
#16
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L D,
Sorry to hear your dad is going to have to deal with all these new Manatee Zones.
Here's a letter to the local liberal rag newspaper this morning.
Boat restrictions are too excessive
By Robin Turner, Cocoa Beach
One of the claims the anti-boating forces make is that boat-speed restrictions are a minor inconvenience that do nothing to diminish the value of, or the ability to, use a boat.
So that nonboaters can better understand, I offer this land-based analogy:
Suppose in order to cut down the number of children being hit by cars, we changed the speed limits on our roads.
If we made changes similar to Brevard's boating restrictions, then Interstate 95, U.S. 1 and Wickham Road would be restricted to 30 mph.
All other multi-lane roads would be "idle speed." This speed would not be based on any set numerical rate of travel in miles per hour, but on a law-enforcement officer's subjective opinion that you are exceeding "idle speed."
It would, however, definitely not be any speed over 6 mph. In addition, all two-lane residential roads would become "sanctuaries."
In these areas, you would not be allowed to use your car's engine. You would have to get out and push. And, if you wanted to build a garage for a car, you'd first have to prove that the car would never hit a child.
The first violation of these rules would result in a $100 fine. After the third violation you would become a convicted felon. You would lose your car, your right to vote and probably your job.
This analogy is based on today's waterway restrictions. No one would want to use a car under these conditions. Yet tens of thousands of boaters are expected to live like this. This is a gross injustice that needs to be corrected.
Another interesting comparison is boaters have to idle @ ~6 MPH in Manatee zones, BUT you can SPEED thru a school zones in FL. @ 15-20 MPH!! Are Manatees more precious than our childern? The $MC thinks so!
Tom FTM,
We are doing great, how's Barbara? Give us a call when you finalize your Miami Boat show/Daytona 500 plans and we will get together. How's the OL running? I doubt we'll be going to the boat show, as you can see we don't have much motivation to buy a new/bigger boat! Shoveling horse $hit might be in my future!
Take care,
MD
Sorry to hear your dad is going to have to deal with all these new Manatee Zones.
Here's a letter to the local liberal rag newspaper this morning.
Boat restrictions are too excessive
By Robin Turner, Cocoa Beach
One of the claims the anti-boating forces make is that boat-speed restrictions are a minor inconvenience that do nothing to diminish the value of, or the ability to, use a boat.
So that nonboaters can better understand, I offer this land-based analogy:
Suppose in order to cut down the number of children being hit by cars, we changed the speed limits on our roads.
If we made changes similar to Brevard's boating restrictions, then Interstate 95, U.S. 1 and Wickham Road would be restricted to 30 mph.
All other multi-lane roads would be "idle speed." This speed would not be based on any set numerical rate of travel in miles per hour, but on a law-enforcement officer's subjective opinion that you are exceeding "idle speed."
It would, however, definitely not be any speed over 6 mph. In addition, all two-lane residential roads would become "sanctuaries."
In these areas, you would not be allowed to use your car's engine. You would have to get out and push. And, if you wanted to build a garage for a car, you'd first have to prove that the car would never hit a child.
The first violation of these rules would result in a $100 fine. After the third violation you would become a convicted felon. You would lose your car, your right to vote and probably your job.
This analogy is based on today's waterway restrictions. No one would want to use a car under these conditions. Yet tens of thousands of boaters are expected to live like this. This is a gross injustice that needs to be corrected.
Another interesting comparison is boaters have to idle @ ~6 MPH in Manatee zones, BUT you can SPEED thru a school zones in FL. @ 15-20 MPH!! Are Manatees more precious than our childern? The $MC thinks so!
Tom FTM,
We are doing great, how's Barbara? Give us a call when you finalize your Miami Boat show/Daytona 500 plans and we will get together. How's the OL running? I doubt we'll be going to the boat show, as you can see we don't have much motivation to buy a new/bigger boat! Shoveling horse $hit might be in my future!
Take care,
MD
11-05-2002, 06:50 AM
#17
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Dean - I just got my latest BoatUS magazine the other day (a "mainstream" boating publication if there ever was one), and there was a pretty good article in there about an organization called "Standing Watch". It seems to be a loose but formal organization of Florida boaters and boating groups dedicated to looking out for the boaters' interests in Florida on all matters, including manatees. The general point of the article was that the $MC was getting out of bounds in its activities, was made up primarily of out-of-staters, and seemed to be focused more on justifying its existence than helping the manatee. The overall tone was that there was soon gong to be a major bacvklash against the $MC. Let's hope so.
__________________
Retired! Boating full-time now.
Retired! Boating full-time now.
11-05-2002, 07:01 AM
#18
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C-,
I belong to Standing- Watch and CFW, and we are trying to "De-program" the general population from 20+ years of the $MC propaganda, and get the Fl/US gov't to use REAL SCIENCE and not $MC hype to study the Manatee. It's just getting old, and we are SO restricted on our boating activities NOW, that I'm beginning to wonder if it's worth it or not? At least out on a horse ranch, no one can tell us how FAST we can ride the horses!
MD
I belong to Standing- Watch and CFW, and we are trying to "De-program" the general population from 20+ years of the $MC propaganda, and get the Fl/US gov't to use REAL SCIENCE and not $MC hype to study the Manatee. It's just getting old, and we are SO restricted on our boating activities NOW, that I'm beginning to wonder if it's worth it or not? At least out on a horse ranch, no one can tell us how FAST we can ride the horses!
MD
11-05-2002, 08:25 AM
#20
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look out SW Florida
We all complain but do nothing. $mc organized and collects $ from sympathetic (pathetic) people. They want to reduce the 20% that are hit by boats while 80% die from other causes. Wouldn't it make sense if they spent their money on research instead of lobbying? Their stated goal was a "return to a boatless origin untouched by man" as stated in the Press several years ago and no one took them serious.
