Isra-Mart srl:US attempts to draw line under polar bear protection row

www.isra-mart.com

Isra-Mart srl news:

The US Department of the Interior (DOI) has earmarked more than 187,000 square miles of Arctic territory as critical habitat for the polar bear, settling an ongoing lawsuit brought against it by a collection of conservation groups that could have led to tighter restrictions on Arctic oil drilling.

However, green groups are continuing to pursue a court case that could ultimately see the threat to the polar bear's habitat presented by climate change used as a legal justification for regulation of greenhouse gas emissions.

The latest move, carried out by the DOI's Fish and Wildlife Service, seeks to provide the polar bear-protected territory as part of its status as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

The designated land covers three distinct types of territory: barrier island habitat, sea ice habitat and terrestrial denning habitat. Ninety-six per cent of the designated territory is sea ice. It excludes five US Air Force radar sites, two native communities and all existing manmade structures, the service said.

"The designation of critical habitat under the ESA does not affect land ownership or establish a refuge, wilderness, reserve, preserve or other conservation area," the service pointed out in a statement. "It does not allow government or the public access to private lands. A critical habitat designation does not affect private lands unless federal funds, permits or activities are involved."

However, the Center for Biological Diversity points out that federal agencies are prohibited from taking any actions that may harm critical habitat.

"Today's designation is a start, especially in warding off ill-considered well and gas development in America's most important polar bear habitat," said Andrew Wetzler, director of the Natural Resource Defence Council's Land and Wildlife Program.

The center, which had brought a lawsuit against the DOI along with the Natural Resources Defence Council and Greenpeace, said the DOI is under court order to reconsider its 2008 decision to list the polar bear as threatened rather than endangered.

The ruling was part of a broader legal battle between the Bush administration and environmental lobby groups, which wanted to use the ESA as a legislative tool to enforce protective measures against climate change.

The DOI at the time issued a special rule that stopped greenhouse gas emissions being regulated as a result of the polar bear's inclusion under the ESA. The court challenge to this regulation is ongoing, and the deadline for the DOI to reconsider the decision is 23 December.