PLF: FEDS WRONG TO LIST POLAR BEAR UNDER ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT

PLF Is Prepared to Bring a Legal Challenge

Washington, D.C.; May 14, 2008:  The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s decision to list the polar bear under the Endangered Species Act was misguided, and Pacific Legal Foundation is prepared to mount a legal challenge, the Foundation announced today.

“This listing decision is unwarranted and ill-advised,” said Reed Hopper, a principal attorney with Pacific Legal Foundation, the nation’s leading legal watchdog for property rights and a balanced approach to environmental protection.  “Credible estimates put the number of polar bears at as high as 25,000 – five times as many as 50 years ago.  Rather than rely on speculative computer models of future events, the proper analysis would rely on actual field data – the best available science – which shows a thriving species.  The Endangered Species Act was not intended, nor does it allow, the listing of a thriving species.”

"PLF is prepared to challenge this arbitrary listing of the polar bear,” said Hopper.

“The polar bear is already among the most protected species in the world,” Hopper continued.  “According to the Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, listing the polar bear under the Endangered Species Act would provide ‘very little added protection.’  Today’s decision conflicts with the Canadian government which has determined that the polar bear is not threatened with extinction in the foreseeable future.  Two-thirds of the polar bear populations reside in Canada.”

Destructive economic impacts of the listing could be enormous.  “This listing could have the effect of imposing severe restrictions on land use, job creation, and normal economic activity, not merely in Alaska but also – if global warming factors are cited in lawsuits based on the listing – throughout the lower 48 states,” said Hopper. Moreover, a listing based on global warming theory has the effect of hijacking Congress’ constitutional authority to write the laws and regulations that govern us.  “Policy making on global warming is the responsibility of the legislative branch,” Hopper continued.  “It shouldn’t be driven by the tail of unelected environmental regulators ‘wagging the dog’ by using the ESA to impose economic restrictions on broad sections of society.”

“Environmental groups proposed this listing, not because the bear needed to be listed, but to expand regulatory control over economic activity throughout the country,” said PLF Vice President Dave Stirling, author of a new book that deals in part with abuses of the Endangered Species Act:  Green Gone Wild – Elevating Nature Above Human Rights.  Information and a video on Stirling’s book can be found at:  www.greengonewildbook.com.

About Pacific Legal Foundation
PLF (www.pacificlegal.org) is the oldest and most successful legal organization that litigates for property rights and a balanced approach to environmental protection.  Among PLF victories:  The court ruling that ordered the delisting of the bald eagle.  For more background on PLF, view this brief 35th Anniversary video, featuring former U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese III:  http://youtube.com/watch?v=HnBSlRQwxKU