Protect the Polar Bear

Dear Mr. Evans,

I am pleased that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has designated a large area of the Arctic as critical habitat for the polar bear. I strongly support this effort to keep one of our national treasures safe.

As a BSA Explorer I attended "Polar Bear" outings that were too cold or snowed so hard the Boy Scouts were called off, one particularly today at the new National Purple Heart Center in Vail, NY. As an adult, I studied with an archaeologist, who working with volunteers in Labrador, Canada for the Smithsonian, lost one of his students to perhaps the polar bear sighted. A scholarship was started in her name.

However, I was disturbed to learn that the Department of Interior has announced a risky, aggressive drilling plan with Shell Oil, aimed squarely at polar bear habitat. This is unacceptable, and I urge you to do everything necessary to prevent harmful activities such as oil drilling in the polar bear's vulnerable habitat.

Thank you for your consideration of this important issue.

CREDO:

Protect the Polar Bear

The polar bear is in trouble.

Due to climate change and oil drilling, Arctic ice is melting at faster rates. This interrupts the feeding and breeding patterns of polar bears, strands bears on unfamiliar land masses, and even causes some bears to drown. Yet, the Department of Interior just approved a risky, aggressive drilling plan for Shell Oil in key polar bear habitat in the Beaufort Sea.

This was just days before the very same Interior Department announced how important protecting polar bear habitat is by designating a large area of America's Arctic as critical habitat.

If the polar bear is truly going to be protected, the Department of Interior needs to maintain the critical habitat designation and stop rampant, risky and harmful oil expansion.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is accepting public comment until December 28th. Fax them today and urge them to support critical habitat designation and to stop harmful activities such as oil drilling in the polar bear's habitat.

If you also would like to send a fax or just read the petition click here.