Nick Snow
Washington Editor
WASHINGTON, DC, Feb. 1 -- US Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) charged that the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) is dragging its feet in deciding whether to list the polar bear as an endangered species.
Boxer told FWS Director H. Dale Hall in an opening statement at the committee's Jan. 30 hearing on polar bear threats and protections, "…You were obligated under the Endangered Species Act to list, or withdraw your proposed listing for, the polar bear by no later than Jan. 9, 2008."
Meanwhile, she noted, another US Department of Interior agency, the US Minerals Management Service, is proceeding with plans to offer oil and gas leases on Feb. 6 "in one of the biological hearts of the polar bear's domain, the Chukchi Sea."
Hall responded that FWS would reach its decision soon. In his written testimony, Hall explained that the delay was necessary to allow sufficient time for public comments on new data which another DOI agency, the US Geological Survey, submitted in December.
Sen. James M. Inhofe (R-Okla.), the committee's ranking minority member, said other forecasters have questioned modeling behind a USGS prediction that shrinking sea ice could eliminate two thirds of the world's polar bears by 2050.
"The bear is also being used as a tool to stop or slow natural resource development in Alaska. Last week, on the House side, witnesses supporting the listing of the polar bear [as an endangered species] stated that no oil and gas leases should be allowed until the bear is listed, its critical habitat designated, and a recovery plan put in place. That could be a very long time," he warned.
The Senate panel's hearing came less than 2 weeks after Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), who chairs the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, leveled similar charges at Interior at a Jan. 17 hearing on polar bear protection and federal oil leasing (OGJ, Jan. 28, 2008, p. 26).
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