Conservationists are celebrating a huge victory for polar bears this week after a federal appeals court upheld a designation of more than 120 million acres as critical habitat for them in Alaska.
Polar bears were first listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) as threatened in 2008, marking the first time a marine mammal gained protection because of the likelihood climate change will bring about their extinction.
Two years later, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) moved to designate 187,000 square miles as critical habitat, which includes barrier islands along Alaska’s coast, denning areas on land and offshore sea-ice.
Polar bears were first listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) as threatened in 2008, marking the first time a marine mammal gained protection because of the likelihood climate change will bring about their extinction.
Two years later, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) moved to designate 187,000 square miles as critical habitat, which includes barrier islands along Alaska’s coast, denning areas on land and offshore sea-ice.
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