WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- State wildlife commissioners voted unanimously Wednesday to remove bald eagles from Florida's list of animals in danger of extinction and to downgrade manatees from endangered to threatened.

The commissioners also voted to upgrade the statuses of the Panama City crayfish and gopher tortoise to threatened species.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission voted 7-0 to strip bald eagles of their threatened classification and to downgrade manatees because both populations have shown signs of rebounding.

Florida's three-tiered system includes classifications of endangered, threatened and special concern, the lowest level.

Wednesday's decisions won't go into effect until management plans are approved for each species, which could take more than a year, officials said. Eagles and manatees remain protected under several federal laws, including the 1973 Endangered Species Act.

"You can't shoot them (eagles). You can't take their eggs. There will be no less protection," commission spokesman Henry Cabbage said, adding that manatees, too, would remain under strict monitoring.

The listings are based on a species' population, how fast it is declining and when extinction is projected, among other factors.

Although Florida officials said the reclassifications wouldn't affect how the species are protected, environmentalists fear the move will set into motion a downward spiral of state funding and protections.

State scientists say the manatee population is still expected to drop 50 percent over the next five decades because of habitat loss, boat collisions and red tide algae. But they say the species doesn't meet the current criteria for being listed as endangered, which is reserved for those on the brink of extinction.

An annual survey released in February found 3,116 manatees in Florida waters, up from 1,267 in 1991, the first year the census was conducted. But state scientists acknowledge that even though the manatee population has likely increased, the jump in numbers counted in the survey also means techniques of finding the animals have improved.

"As species like the manatee are reclassified to a less imperiled status before their populations have actually recovered, state funding for research, management and law enforcement will likely be directed elsewhere, preventing full recovery," said Martha Collins, an attorney for 17 environmental groups who last week filed a petition with the state seeking to have the entire protection classification system revamped.

Gov. Jeb Bush said "we should celebrate" the fact that eagles and manatees appear to be rebounding in the wild.

"If it's based on sound science and there's a de-listing, it means that something has been done right, that the species can be sustained," Bush said.

State officials say the bald eagle's status is a success story. When the commission started monitoring eagles in the 1970s, there were only 88 known nests. Now there are more than 1,100 nests across the state, according to the commission.

Also acknowledging the bald eagle's comeback nationally, the federal government in February took a step toward removing the eagle from the endangered species list when it issued draft voluntary guidelines spelling out how landowners, land managers and others should protect the bird once it no longer is safeguarded by the Endangered Species Act.

According to the Interior Department, at least 7,066 known nesting pairs now exist in the contiguous United States. The bald eagle's territory stretches over most of North America. Thousands more live in Alaska and Canada. Less than 50 years ago, however, there were just 417 known nesting pairs in the lower 48 states.

The Gopher tortoise, which nests in dunes, has survived for 60 million years but biologists estimate their numbers have dropped by up to 80 percent in the last century due to coastal development.

Under a current state permitting process, developers are allowed to bury alive some of the reptiles as they make way for construction. Under the upgraded classification, a new management plan will be devised that will limit those live burials.

The Panama City crayfish is found nowhere else in the word but in a small portion of Bay County along the Florida Panhandle. It's habitat has been significantly reduced since its discovery 60 years ago.