"An environmental group filed a 60-day notice of intent to sue over staffing concerns at the Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge, established specifically to protect the sea cows."
"The Trump administration’s government-wide staff cuts threaten federally protected manatees in a Florida national wildlife refuge established for the purpose of safeguarding the beloved sea cows, according to a new legal filing from the Center for Biological Diversity.
The administration is accused of imperiling the manatees by failing to adequately staff the Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge, situated 80 miles north of Tampa, provides essential winter habitat for some 20 percent of the state’s population, according to a 60-day notice of intent to sue the advocacy group filed Friday.
The refuge was chronically understaffed before the Trump administration in February dismissed two of the eight employees tasked with managing five national wildlife refuges along Florida’s Gulf Coast, including Crystal River, according to the legal filing. The fired employees were reinstated under a court order, but the document argues the administration’s commitment to more cuts represents an ongoing threat to the manatees."
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