Manatee Insanity: Inside The War Over Florida's Most Famous Endangered Species Download Free (EPUB, PDF)
Why is the manatee just as imperiled today as it was 40 years ago?"The best available, most factual account of the decades-long struggle to protect the Florida manatee, skillfully told by a veteran journalist who has followed the story closely. I’ve been involved in this controversy for over 30 years, and I learned countless things about it that I never knew!"--Daryl Domning, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution"The Florida legislature gave the manatee its own license plate, and Jimmy Buffet sang poetic lyrics about the iconic creature, but Craig Pittman offers a whole new perspective--the manatee as battleground. With a cast of characters including environmentalists and biologists, developers and boaters, lawyers and lobbyists, politicians and shady citizens, Manatee Insanity is a colorful work of non-fiction."--Keith Rizzardi, South Florida Water Management DistrictLoveable or loathed? Poster child for conservation efforts or impediment to development? Nuisance or in need of protection? For the past two decades, the quiet manatee has been a flash point of frequent environmental debates.Included on the very first endangered species list issued in 1967, the docile creatures have stirred curiosity and passions for more than a hundred years. They are Florida's most famous endangered species, as well as its most controversial. Manatees appear on hundreds of license plates, attract hordes of tourists, and expose the uneasy relationships between science and the law and between freedom and responsibility like no other animal.As passions have flared and resentments have grown, the battle over manatee protection has evolved into a war, and no reporter has followed the story more closely than Craig Pittman. He’s flown with scientists trying to count manatees from overhead. He’s been on the water with the leader of the biggest pro-boater group. He's observed biologists dissecting the animals and politicians discussing their fate.Manatee Insanity provides the first in-depth history of the attempts to provide legal protection for the manatee. Along the way, Pittman takes a close look at the major and minor players in the dispute, from Jacques-Yves Cousteau to Jeb Bush, from Jimmy Buffett to O. J. Simpson, from a popular children's book author to a federal lawman who dressed in a gorilla suit for the ultimate undercover assignment.A volume in the Florida History and Culture Series, edited by Raymond Arsenault and Gary R. Mormino
Hardcover: 416 pages
Publisher: University Press of Florida; First Edition edition (May 9, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0813034620
ISBN-13: 978-0813034621
Product Dimensions: 6.4 x 1.4 x 9.3 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #1,342,478 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #45 in Books > Science & Math > Nature & Ecology > Ecosystems > Wetlands #390 in Books > Science & Math > Nature & Ecology > Endangered Species #1293 in Books > Science & Math > Biological Sciences > Animals > Mammals
"manatee insanity" by craig Pittman is a must read for anyone who loves manatees, or is interested in endangered species and the wars over them, or who wants to know the true stories behind one of the most controversial marine mammals on the planet. Pittman is an 'immaculate journalist' whose research is outstanding. He portrays how the gentle manatee has been used as a pawn for years. He writes about the politics and sentiments between the passionate environmentalists and the boating community and the developers. As he says:" as passions have flared and resentments have grown,the battle over manatee protection has evolved into a war." Never has there been a book which documents the full scope of what is happening in Florida to save and protect the manatee and the opposite, which could cause its demise. The book is written like a good juicy novel based on research and fact and one can only feel sorry for this gentle giant who wants to live peacefully in its own habitat instead of having to deal with boat hits and habitat destruction. five stars for this! lynda green
Pittman does a superb job describing the now decades-long war between all the special interest groups, scientists, and the government, over this wonderful docile creature who has no natural enemy except man. Manatees can offer no defense except to try and swim away from dangers and mothers cannot even protect their calves except to get between them and danger. They are total vegetarians but boats and development have ruined or destroyed many areas where the water grasses grow. The warm water they rely on from the natural springs is being pulled from the aquifer to water lawns and golf courses.(They cannot tolerate temperatures below 68 degrees and the springs are 72). He's dead-on with his insights on how money and politics have played major roles to trump development over science at the local, state, federal, and international levels. He does try to balance the equation by telling what the other sides have to say, however flawed I think their reasonings are. For me this book was almost a page-turner to see what arguments would be floated up next. Read this book; get your friends to read this book! The manatee is the "canary" in the mine. If we fail to save this animal and its habitat there is not a lot of hope left for anything at any time. Something is only "saved" as long as it has no perceived value (land, water, animals, etc.). Let someone figure out how to make a buck and they will use their money and influence to get the place or animal re-designated to their desires to make that buck. Oddly enough all the businesses mentioned in this book are mostly still in business no matter how loudly they squawked before that the restrictions to save manatees would run them into bankruptcy (if anything, the economy would have been responsible for that, not the manatee). Meanwhile, manatees are still dying by the hand of man.
I give this 5 stars for anyone interesting in Florida's environment, environmental politics and the manatee. An incredibly thoroughly researched and well written book about over 40 years of environmental policy, issues, and decisions in Florida. At times depressing and frustrating at other times encouraging, it is always illuminating. It is written in an engaging and clear style. Craig Pittman can write about the incredibly complex history of the manatee and the larger issues of Florida environmental policy without bogging the reader down in a sea of facts. An essential primer for anyone those who loves the manatee and natural Florida.
Though I haven't been to Florida in a decade, and have almost no interest in manatees, Craig Pittman's excellent and witty "Manatee Insanity" kept my attention the whole way through. An exemplary work of journalistic nonfiction. Highly recommended.
A few years ago, I snorkeled with the manatees in Florida and was lucky to have one stop and stare me in the eye on his was up for air. The memorable encounter left a lump in my throat, but it wasnât until a few weeks ago, when I picked up Craig Pittmanâs book, Manatee Insanity: Inside the War over Floridaâs Most Famous Endangered Species, did I fully appreciate the good fortune to have experienced a manatee moment. Pittman tells the story of the speciesâ struggle to survive in a rapidly changing environment. He leaves no stone unturned in his comprehensive research of the manateeâs story. More than five thousand manatees have been killed by speeding powerboats during the past four decades. The protection awarded them by the Endangered Species Act did little to keep these animals safe from boat collisions and propeller blades. Grassroots organizations, wildlife biologists, and concerned citizens who attempted to designate manatee sanctuaries and lower its speed limits for boaters, were vigorously opposed by politicians, and lobbyists for developers and construction companies. What ensued was the âManatee War,â which pitted the rights of an endangered animal against the rights of citizens who wanted to enjoy Floridaâs waterways without restriction. Pittman is a journalist whose research skills are unsurpassed. He tells an honest, accurate story; and one full of passion, frustration, failure, and success. His book reads like a true-life thriller. Just when you think the tables will turn in favor of the manatee, a major setback occurs making the speciesâ survival seem impossible. I highly recommend Manatee Insanity to anyone passionate about environmental issues and endangered species and those who dedicate their lives to making a positive difference in our world.
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