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STATEMENT OF ROBERTA. DEWEY 



DIRECTOR, HABITAT CONSERVATION DIVISION 



DEFENDERS OF WILDLIFE 



ON 



POLAR BEAR CONSERVATION 



AND REAUTHORIZATION OF THE 



MARINE MAMMAL PROTECTION ACT 



FOR 



THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON 



ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES 



MERCHANT MARINE AND FISHERIES COMMITTEE 



U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 



MARCH 10, 1994 



ON BEHALF OF 



DEFENDERS OF WILDLIFE 



AND 

 THE WILDERNESS SOCIETY 



At the invitation of the House Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries, 

 this statement is being submitted on behalf of Defenders of Wildlife and The Wilderness 

 Society for inclusion in record of the February 10, 1994 hearing on the Marine Mammal 

 Protection Act held by the Subcommittee on Environment and Natural Resources. The 

 statement focuses on the need for Congress to amend the Marine Mammal Protection 

 Act to provide the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) with affirmative authority to 

 protect polar bear habitat. The United States is obligated to protect polar bear 

 ecosystems, especially denning, feeding and migration areas, under Article II of the 

 Agreement on the Conservation of Polar Bears, an international treaty signed by the 

 U.S. in 1973. 



Defenders of Wildlife is a national conservation organization with over 80,000 

 members. Polar bear conservation issues, especially those relating to habitat protection, 

 have long been a high priority of Defenders. For several years we have served on an 

 informal advisory team established by the FWS in conjunction with the preparation of 

 the Conservation Plan for the Polar Bear in Alaska , a final version of which should soon 

 be released by the FWS. Defenders also submitted comments on a recent FWS proposal 

 to issue regulations allowing the incidental take of polar bears during oil and gas 

 exploration and development activities in the Beaufort Sea. Concerns expressed by 

 Defenders regarding the potential impact of the proposed regulations on U.S. 

 compliance with the Agreement on the Conservation of Polar Bears helped prompt the 

 FWS to announce its intention to develop the Polar Bear Habitat Conservation Strategy. 

 Although pleased by FWS plans to develop this Strategy, Defenders of Wildlife shares 

 concerns expressed in written testimony submitted by the FWS and the Marine Mammal 

 Commission regarding the current limits of FWS legal authority to fully implement an 

 effective habitat protection regime. 



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