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F&W proposes polar bear critical habitat 200,541 square-mile area includes much of the outer continental shelf, the barrier islands and land along the Beaufort Sea coast Alan Bailey Petroleum News
On Oct. 22 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced its proposed designation of critical habitat for the polar bear, following the May 2008 listing of the bears as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. The proposed habitat region encompasses a total area of 200,541 square miles of U.S. territory covering those areas of the Arctic Alaska offshore continental shelf where water depths are 300 meters (980 feet) or less in depth; barrier islands and spits along Alaska’s northern coast; and polar bear, on-land denning habitat along the Beaufort Sea coast.
The onshore denning habitat consists of lands within about 20 miles of the northern coast of Alaska between the Canadian border and the Kavik River, and within about eight miles of the coast between the Kavik River and the city of Barrow.
The announcement of the proposed critical habitat designation triggers a 60-day public comment period.
“This administration is fully committed to the protection and recovery of the polar bear,” said Interior Assistant Secretary for Fish, Wildlife and Parks, Tom Strickland. “Proposing critical habitat for this iconic species is one step in the right direction to help this species stave off extinction, recognizing that the greatest threat to the polar bear is the melting of Arctic sea ice caused by climate change. As we move forward with a comprehensive energy and climate strategy, we will continue to work to protect the polar bear and its fragile environment.”
Fish and Wildlife has also proposed the prohibition of international trade in polar bears and their parts, Strickland said.
Thorough evaluation Although the Endangered Species Act requires the Department of the Interior to, if possible, designate critical habitat at the time a species is listed under the act, Fish and Wildlife has not proposed the critical habitat designation until now because of the time that it has taken to conduct a thorough evaluation and peer review of its proposal, Fish and Wildlife said.
Under the terms of the Endangered Species Act, geographic areas designated as critical habitat contain features that the Department of the Interior considers essential for the conservation of a listed species and that may require special management or protection. And under section 7 of the act, federal agencies must ensure that any federally authorized activities are unlikely to jeopardize the continued existence of the species or to destroy or adversely modify the critical habitat.
Oil industry The designated critical habitat area for the polar bear includes places where the oil industry is active: Fish and Wildlife will evaluate the economic impacts of the habitat designation, Strickland said.
But Strickland emphasized that federal agencies had already been conducting Endangered Species Act section 7 consultations for the polar bear, prior to the critical habitat designation, and that the recent U.S. Minerals Management Service approval of Shell’s Beaufort Sea exploration plan had successfully gone through this consultation process. Onshore and offshore oil and gas activities have also already been subject to significant review and regulation under the Marine Mammals Protection Act.
“We believe that it will not be a significant additional burden on the industry … but it does further heighten the importance of trying to minimize any kinds of activity in these critical areas that might adversely affect the bear,” Strickland said of the proposed critical habitat designation.
Critical habitat receives an additional level of legal protection under section 7 of the Endangered Species Act, he said.
Fish and Wildlife has stepped up its funding efforts and is expanding its consultation capabilities, including the deployment of staff to the North Slope to support the development and implementation of community-based, polar bear-human interaction plans for the North Slope villages, said Sam Hamilton, director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Sea ice About 93 percent of the designated habitat area is occupied by winter sea ice, Strickland said.
“Through eons of time polar bears have evolved and adapted to life on the sea ice, and they depend on this area for resting, breeding, hunting and feeding,” Hamilton said. “Polar bears require sea ice as a platform for hunting and feeding on seals; seasonal long-distance movements; travel to terrestrial maternal denning areas; resting and mating.”
The majority of the U.S. polar bears remain on sea ice year round and prefer the shallow areas of the continental shelf, he said. And, according to Fish and Wildlife, most polar bear populations use onshore habitat partially or exclusively for maternity denning.
Although the Obama administration understands that the melting of Arctic sea ice constitutes the greatest threat to the bears, the administration also recognizes that the Endangered Species Act is not an appropriate tool for addressing the carbon emissions that are considered the root cause of climate change, Strickland said. The administration supports other climate change-focused initiatives such as proposed carbon emissions cap-and-trade legislation and the promotion of renewable energy sources, he said.
“These things will also, ultimately and indirectly, possibly affect the polar bear,” Strickland said. “The action we’re taking today is one that is functional and appropriate under the Endangered Species Act and we think is important to help protect the bear.”
A recent order by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar is triggering initiatives by the Department of the Interior to use management practices and best science to address climate change, he said.
“The Fish and Wildlife Service recently released for public comment a strategic plan for addressing the impacts of climate change on wildlife and has begun working on a wildlife adaptation strategy,” Strickland said.
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