Florida's Broward County could get more than 4,000 new boat slips.

      Broward County Commissioners approved a manatee protection plan last    week that would allow the construction of 4,392 boat slips, dry-stack storage units, boat-ramp parking spaces and other facilities. The county's previous plan, according to a story in the Ft Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel , permitted more than 7,000 new slips, angering environmentalists and state officials.

"The marine industry took a run at it. They asked for a bunch more slips and they didn't get it approved," Eric Meyer, Broward County's director of biological resources, told the paper. "We actively got the environmental community involved this time. If everybody's unhappy, you've done your job."

According to the paper, the state agency overseeing manatee protection, the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission, said it would recommend approval if the county funds law enforcement. The plan must also be approved by the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

The approval would mean new commercial boating facilities after a three-year moratorium. Proposals for about 800 boat slips are likely to move forward once the plan goes through, Meyer said. The plan would tax marina owners to pay for law enforcement. It also sets aside 513 slips for cities to develop into public boating facilities, responding to criticism that the previous draft ignored the needs of the boater who couldn't afford a private dock.

Sourced from ibi news