187,157 square miles of Alaskan land and (mostly) ocean to be for the bears-
U.S. Firms Up ‘Critical Habitat’ for Polar Bears. By Felicity Barringer. The Green Blog in the New York Times. Here is the web page on this from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Dept. of Interior).
This is very important, but designation of critical habitat can’t stop the ice from melting. The future of these bears looks grim.
Ralph Maughan
Dr. Ralph Maughan is professor emeritus of political science at Idaho State University. He was a Western Watersheds Project Board Member off and on for many years, and was also its President for several years. For a long time he produced Ralph Maughan's Wolf Report. He was a founder of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition. He and Jackie Johnson Maughan wrote three editions of "Hiking Idaho." He also wrote "Beyond the Tetons" and "Backpacking Wyoming's Teton and Washakie Wilderness." He created and is the administrator of The Wildlife News.
Recently a judge told the government that they need to consider whether polar bears should be an endangered species rather than a threatened species.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703805704575594990403163252.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
Will this appear on Sarah Palin’s Alaska?