00                        SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 6 am                                                                      
01 Encouraging all states to oppose the decision of the United States Fish and Wildlife                                    
02 Service to list the polar bear as a threatened species.                                                                 
03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE:                                                                                           
04       WHEREAS the United States Fish and Wildlife Service is considering listing the                                  
05 polar bear as a threatened species; and                                                                                 
06       WHEREAS, contrary to studies being cited, data indicate that polar bear populations                             
07 have approximately tripled in the last three decades and continue to be managed well above                              
08 sustained yield levels under international guidelines; and                                                              
09       WHEREAS, contrary to well-documented and scientifically proven data, other studies                              
10 cited and considered by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service were used selectively, and                          
11 the United States Fish and Wildlife Service fails to recognize the uncertainty of summer                                
12 Arctic ice modeling and that polar bear populations are healthy; and                                                    
13       WHEREAS listing polar bears as threatened would be detrimental to customary and                                 
14 traditional subsistence uses by Alaska Natives as referenced in the Alaska Native Claims                                
15 Settlement Act and the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act; and                                             
16       WHEREAS listing polar bears as threatened would violate both the spirit and content                             

01 of current international treaties with other countries; and                                                             
02       WHEREAS listing polar bears as threatened would violate the intent of Alaska's                                  
03 Statehood Compact as it pertains to management and development of resources critical to our                             
04 economic well-being; and                                                                                                
05       WHEREAS listing polar bears as threatened will be used as a political and legal tool                            
06 by environmental extremists to block exploration and development of strategic resources vital                           
07 to the state and the nation as a whole; and                                                                             
08       WHEREAS listing polar bears as threatened will affect every state because legal and                             
09 political action will be taken to insist that any emissions or activity that might possibly lead to                     
10 a decline in polar bear populations be subject to new reviews by the United States Fish and                             
11 Wildlife Service or other government agencies;                                                                          
12       BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate opposes the decision of the United States Fish                                   
13 and Wildlife Service to list the polar bear as a threatened species under the Endangered                                
14 Species Act of 1973; and be it                                                                                          
15       FURTHER RESOLVED that the Senate strongly encourages all other states to                                        
16 oppose the decision of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service to list the polar bear as a                          
17 threatened species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973.                                                            
18       COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable George W. Bush, President                              
19 of the United States; the Honorable H. Dale Hall, Director, United States Fish and Wildlife                             
20 Service; and the Honorable Ted Stevens and the Honorable Lisa Murkowski, U.S. Senators,                                 
21 and the Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in                                   
22 Congress.