Lawsuit launched against U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and DOGE citing manatee harassment in Crystal River

Lawsuit Launched Over Manatee Harassment in Crystal River

Chronically Understaffed Refuge is Dedicated to Manatee Protection

CRYSTAL RIVER, Florida — The Center for Biological Diversity warned the Trump administration on May 3, 2025, that it intends to sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and so-called Department of Government Efficiency for failing to adequately staff the Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge, resulting in unlawful harassment of protected Florida manatees.

Looming staff cuts driven by Trump’s DOGE teams threaten to further harm Florida’s iconic gentle giants, warns today’s notice of intent to sue.

“Crystal River refuge staffers protect our manatees from harm and harassment in Florida’s most important natural warm-water habitat, but chronic understaffing has hamstrung recovery efforts,” said Ragan Whitlock, a Florida-based attorney at the Center. “That’s why Trump’s looming staff cuts are doubly dangerous for these gentle animals. Supporting refuge staff means supporting manatees too.”

The refuge provides an important warm-water sanctuary for federally protected manatees. In addition to managing hundreds of thousands of visitors every year, refuge staff authorize and oversee a variety of commercial manatee tour groups. There are currently 27 active special-use permits, mostly for “swim-with-manatee” tourism operations. There are documented incidents of recreational visitors and some tourism operators harassing manatees, including by separating mothers from calves and riding manatees within refuge waters.

As of January 2025 only eight full-time employees were tasked with managing a 32,000-acre complex of five national wildlife refuges along Florida’s Gulf Coast, including Crystal River.

In February 2025 Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency initiated government-wide staff cuts, which resulted in the firing of two of the eight staffers who were instrumental to operating the refuge. Although the two employees were reinstated following public outcry and federal court orders, the refuge remains severely understaffed and the Trump administration is still committed to dismantling federal agencies, including appealing the order requiring the rehiring of probationary employees.

The Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1983 to protect the Florida manatee, a subspecies of the West Indian manatee. The refuge is intended to preserve Three Sisters Springs, which is the last unspoiled and undeveloped spring habitat in Kings Bay.

The refuge’s warm-water springs and nearby submerged vegetation provide essential winter habitat for around 20% of Florida’s manatee population. It’s predicted that the importance of the refuge will grow in the coming decades with the expected loss of several industrial warm-water outfalls that currently provide shelter for Florida manatees in the winter months.

RSFlorida_manatee_Flickr_USFWS_FPWC_commercial_Use_ok — Manatee resting at Three Sisters Springs (Crystal River NWR) while shading over a school of mangrove snappers. The Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge, was established in 1983 specifically for the protection of the endangered West Indian Manatee. This unique refuge preserves the last unspoiled and undeveloped habitat in Kings Bay, which forms the headwaters of the Crystal River. The refuge preserves the warm water spring havens, which provide critical habitat for the manatee populations that migrate here each winter. Credit: USFWS. Image is available for media use.

The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1.8 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.