Stakeholder Consensus Building
FWC and USFWS have been working to address existing controversies surrounding manatee issues.
The Manatee Forum (Forum) continues to be a useful focus group that helps FWC and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) stay informed about stakeholder concerns. The Forum consists of 22 stakeholder organizations with equal representation from boating and environmental groups. The goal of the Forum is to provide a process to improve communication and understanding among key stakeholder groups and participating agencies. The goals of this process are to establish areas of common ground, identify problems or conflicts, and develop potential solutions. Both the Executive Director of FWC and the Southeast Regional Director (Region 4) of the USFWS continue to stay involved in the Manatee Forum.
From July 2006 through June 2007, the Forum met three times for a total of six meeting days. The meetings this year focused almost entirely on providing input to FWC staff on the development of the Manatee Management Plan. The USFWS also presented their Five Year Review of the manatee at the April 2007 Forum. The Manatee Forum has improved communication and overall civility among the Forum members. The agencies use the Forum as a sounding board for current and future ideas and approaches to manatee recovery.
