UniTEd

          The critical habitat established to protect Alaska’s polar bears is the largest of its kind in the Untied States. Go Alaska! For the first time polar bears in the U.S. have their own critical habitat. The 187,157-square-mile swath around Alaska is mostly offshore, where roughly 3,500 Urus maritimus dwell on sea ice and large oil deposits may lurk. Set last fall, the Interior Department designation means all future drilling plans will be federally scrutinized(existing structures are exempt). It also protects barrier islands and the coastline where more mother bears are denning as sea ice melts.

So far, reactions have been mixed. The state of Alaska and Alaska Native corporations, which rely heavily on oil and gas dollars, say the red tape and the habitat’s vast size will spell huge revenue losses. Environmentalists cheer the move but fear it won’t be enforced. To save polar bears, they want to list them as endangered, not threatened. That would bolster legal protections and leave more room to tackle the chief threat to the animals’ territory: the greenhouse gas emissions causing climate change.

-Jeremy Berlin( N.G. May 2011)