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Inslee continues to push for threatened status for polar bears

5 March 2007

U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee, a congressional leader on global warming and member of the House Natural Resources Committee, testified at a three-hour public hearing at the Department of the Interior in support of listing the polar bear as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act due to the loss of the iconic creature’s sea-ice habitat.

In June, Inslee authored a letter to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), which was signed by a bipartisan coalition of almost 40 members of Congress, in support of the listing.  Responding to pressure from lawmakers, scientists and conservationists, FWS took initial steps toward saving polar bears from extinction in December.

If the listing is approved, it would be the first animal the Bush Administration has added to the list of threatened species.  It also would be the first to be listed due to impacts of climate change.

Currently, the federal agency is collecting information and comments as part of its 12-month decision-making process.  A decision on listing polar bears as a threatened species is expected next January.