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U.S. Stalls on Defining Polar Bears as ‘Threatened’
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findingDulcinea Staff
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has suspended its final decision on whether to classify polar bears as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. The delay has drawn criticism from conservationists.
30-Second Summary
After missing a Jan. 7 decision deadline, FWS Director Dale Hall told reporters that the organization needed another 30 days to evaluate a set of new reports from the U.S. Geological Survey.
These reports conclude that two-thirds of the world’s polar bear population may go extinct by 2050.
According to environmental groups such as the Center for Biological Diversity and the Natural Resources Defense Council, much of the danger stems from a reduction in the Arctic sea ice that is the bears’ hunting ground.
This and other threats prompted the Center for Biological Diversity to file the initial Endangered Species petition back in 2005.
According to the Center, “Listing the polar bear guarantees federal agencies will be obligated to ensure that any action they authorize, fund, or carry out will not jeopardize the polar bears' continued existence.”
However, Alaska State Governor Sarah Palin told The New York Times that putting them on the endangered species list is too drastic a measure. The state would suffer socially and economically. She said, “Alaska is home to a healthy population of polar bears. We intend to keep it that way.”
Further complicating matters is the intended lease sale of 29.7 million acres in the Chukchi Sea off northwestern Alaska. The sale could open the area to oil and gas exploration, a development that Betsey Beardsley of the Alaska Wilderness League thinks could be detrimental to more than just polar bears.
"There's no telling what impact that would have to marine life," Beardsley told Reuters.
These reports conclude that two-thirds of the world’s polar bear population may go extinct by 2050.
According to environmental groups such as the Center for Biological Diversity and the Natural Resources Defense Council, much of the danger stems from a reduction in the Arctic sea ice that is the bears’ hunting ground.
This and other threats prompted the Center for Biological Diversity to file the initial Endangered Species petition back in 2005.
According to the Center, “Listing the polar bear guarantees federal agencies will be obligated to ensure that any action they authorize, fund, or carry out will not jeopardize the polar bears' continued existence.”
However, Alaska State Governor Sarah Palin told The New York Times that putting them on the endangered species list is too drastic a measure. The state would suffer socially and economically. She said, “Alaska is home to a healthy population of polar bears. We intend to keep it that way.”
Further complicating matters is the intended lease sale of 29.7 million acres in the Chukchi Sea off northwestern Alaska. The sale could open the area to oil and gas exploration, a development that Betsey Beardsley of the Alaska Wilderness League thinks could be detrimental to more than just polar bears.
"There's no telling what impact that would have to marine life," Beardsley told Reuters.
Headline Link: ‘U.S. Delays Polar Bear Listing Decision’
Explaining the rationale behind the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s delay, director Dale Hall told National Geographic, "While we do not like missing time lines that are called for under the act, it is far more important to us to get a right answer and have it explained properly to the public."
Source: National Geographic
Background: Comment on the proposal
When the proposal was made in 2007, the FWS invited the public to comment. Roughly 500,000 people gave their opinion, a number for which environmental groups claimed most of the responsibility. Andrew Wetzler of the Natural Resources Defense Council said, "The plight of these animals is critical, and so is the sense that the changes affecting them are eventually going to affect us.” Environmentalists hope that if polar bears are listed as threatened, greenhouse gas emissions will be lowered, according to the International Herald Tribune.
Source: International Herald Tribune
As the designated time for comments drew to a close in April 2007, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin wrote her second letter to the FWS giving the reasons why she does not support the proposal. Palin wrote, “The consequences of listing the polar bear will have widespread social and economic impacts without providing any more protection for the bears.” She also promised Alaska would increase research and conversation efforts.
Source: The official Web site of the Alaska State Government
Opinions & Analysis: Would endangered status threaten Alaska?
On Jan. 5, 2008, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin wrote an op-ed for The New York Times in which she defended her opposition to the inclusion of polar bears on the endangered species list. She argues that scientific research does confirm that the population is declining, and that Alaska is proactive in researching the species. She writes, “We know our efforts will take more than protecting what we have—we must also learn what we don’t know.”
Source: The New York Times
The Center for Biological Diversity, the organization that initially petitioned for the listing in 2005, expressed outrage at both the delayed decision and at the fact that the Bush administration has not put a species on the endangered list in over 600 days. “Stalling has cost us dearly, putting the polar bear at risk of extinction and jeopardizing the future welfare of billions of people around the world,” Kert Davies, research director for Greenpeace USA, wrote in a press release.
Source: The Web site of the Center for Biological Diversity
Related Topics: Alaskan lease sale also delayed
The lease sale on the Chukchi Sea off the coast of Northwestern Alaska has also been delayed one month. The Mineral Management Service intended to lease the 29.7 million acres so that oil and gas resources could be investigated. But if polar bears make the list of threatened species, the value of this territory will be grossly diminished.
Source: Reuters
Reference Material: The proposal
The Alaska Fish and Wildlife Service published the polar bear proposal when it was first issued in January 2007. According to the document, the three main foreseeable impediments to polar bear survival are climate change, hunting and human development. The FWS explains that polar bears would be listed as threatened, not endangered.
Source: Alaska Fish and Wildlife Service
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