A U.S. Appeals Court upheld on Monday the legality of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's action when it designated more than 187,000 square miles as a critical habitat for polar bears in Alaska's northern coast. The court ruling is a hallelujah for the protection of endangered species, but is seen as a blow to Alaska's waning petroleum industry.
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco overturned a decision rendered by the lower court in 2013, which held that the designation was too arbitrary and extensive to be enforced.
ABC News reported that a three-judge panel in the appeals court ruled that the Fish and Wildlife Service did not violate any law for the designation. Moreover, the Endangered Species Act does not require for specificity when identifying critical habitats for threatened animals.
U.S. District Court Judge Ralph Beistline held that while the designation of sea ice as a critical habitat was valid, the Center of Biological Diversity did not make clear that the areas covered would be appropriate for polar bear dens. On this, the appeals court judges argued that the lower court only considered the denning aspect, but failed to appreciate the polar bears' need to unrestricted access to sea ice, as noted by the San Francisco Chronicle.
The Court of Appeals ruling was hailed as a victory for the Center of Biological Diversity.
"The polar bear gets the full protection of critical habitat to which it's entitled, it deserves and it truly needs," Brendan Cummings said, who represents the petitioner.
The Alaska Oil and Gas Association did not welcome the decision, branding the land designation an overreach.
The American Petroleum Institute will also review the court's decision and look at its options.
"The U.S. can sustain and build on our nation's positive energy trajectory while protecting the polar bear and providing greater regulatory certainty not only to the oil and natural gas industry but also to all U.S. manufacturers," API said in a dispatch, via Bloomberg.
Former Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell argued that the designated critical habitat covers areas vital to nearly half of Alaska's oil and petroleum production and exploration.
Fish and Wildlife Service has imposed the critical habitat program to save the polar bear population, which has been on a decline in the last decade. As of 2010, the number of polar bears in the Alaskan region has fallen to 1,000.
