Congressman Sander Levin

Protect Endangered Polar Bears

On October 22nd, I signed a letter to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service asking the service to list the polar bear as "endangered," under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Listing the polar bear as endangered under the ESA would provide critical protections for the population, more then 98 percent of the species listed under the ESA are still alive today.

These protections are clearly needed. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reports that the Arctic ice cap will shrink 40 percent by 2050 in most regions; at the same time, the U.S. Geological Survey reports that this loss of habitat will result in a loss of fully two-thirds of the world's polar bear population by 2050.

U.S. law should not encourage practices that decrease the polar bear population. I am a cosponsor of the Polar Bear Protection Act (HR 2327) which would restore the moratorium on the importation of polar bear trophies from Canada. Since 1994, more than 800 sport-hunted polar bear trophies have been imported into the United States.

I also supported an amendment to the 2008 Interior Appropriations bill offered by Representative Inslee and LoBiondo that would have barred funding for federal actions that allow for the import of sport-hunted polar bear trophies from Canada.