ContactsKen Burton 202-208-5657
The first meeting of the five polar bear range states since 1981 was a productive and helpful information exchange, according to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dale Hall, leader of the American delegation.
Delegations from the United States, Canada, Russia, Greenland and Norway met at the National Conservation Training Center in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, June 26-28, to exchange information on sport and subsistence harvest, import and export of polar bear parts and products, polar bear research and monitoring as well as other issues related to the bears.
The meeting provided a vehicle to share the current state of information concerning the status and threats to polar bear populations among the range states and outlined proposed management objectives and priorities for range-wide polar bear conservation. The range states agreed that impacts of climate change and the continued and increasing loss of sea ice -- the key habitat for both polar bears and their main prey species -- constitutes the most significant among several threats to polar bear conservation. Further, the range states identified opportunities for collaboration in the management of specific shared populations relative to status surveys, harvest quotas and management plans. The range states agreed to an enhanced coordination of management activities for shared populations.
"Each of the countries shares the goal of ensuring healthy polar bear populations for future generations. This meeting enabled experts and policymakers to come together and share ideas and I'm extremely pleased at the progress we made," Hall said.
While not intended to develop or change existing policies or treaties, the meeting was designed to initiate exchanges of information that might lead to more coordinated domestic and international actions to benefit polar bear populations worldwide.
The American delegation included representatives from the Fish and Wildlife Service, the Department of State, U.S. Geological Survey, Marine Mammal Commission, the Alaska Nanuuq Commission, North Slope Borough and the State of Alaska.
Questions about the status of the world's polar bear populations have increased in recent years in the face of observed and predicted changes in the extent and seasonal duration of sea ice. Those concerns led to the Service's recent proposal to protect the polar bear as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. A decision on that proposal is expected early next year.
The five nations that participated in the Shepherdstown meeting are signatories to the 1973 Agreement for the Conservation of Polar Bears. That agreement called for member nations to coordinate research, share information, consult with one another on the management of migrating polar bear populations and continue cooperative efforts to provide increased protection for the world?s populations of the marine mammal.
Hall encouraged participants to hold meetings on a rotating basis and to support the work of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (Polar Bear Specialist Group), which meets every three to five years. The range-state director-level meetings would create an international forum capable of taking the findings and recommendations of the Specialist Group biologists and formulating them into coordinated international actions that would benefit polar bears.
Reports presented by countries during the meeting are available on the Fish and Wildlife Service website, at http://www.fws.gov/international/animals/polarbears/
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 97-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System, which encompasses 547 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 69 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resource offices and 81 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Assistance program, which distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.
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For more information about the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,visit our home page at http://www.fws.gov
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