00Enrolled SR 6                                                                                                           
01 Encouraging all states to oppose the decision of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service to                         
02 list the polar bear as a threatened species.                                                                            
03                                           _______________                                                               
04 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE:                                                                                         
05      WHEREAS the United States Fish and Wildlife Service is considering listing the                                   
06 polar bear as a threatened species; and                                                                                 
07      WHEREAS, contrary to studies being cited, data indicate that polar bear populations                              
08 have approximately tripled in the last three decades and continue to be managed well above                              
09 sustained yield levels under international guidelines; and                                                              
10      WHEREAS, contrary to well-documented and scientifically proven data, other studies                               
11 cited and considered by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service were used selectively, and                          
12 the United States Fish and Wildlife Service fails to recognize the uncertainty of summer                                
13 Arctic ice modeling and that polar bear populations are healthy; and                                                    
14      WHEREAS listing polar bears as threatened would be detrimental to customary and                                  
15 traditional subsistence uses by Alaska Natives as referenced in the Alaska Native Claims                                
16 Settlement Act and the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act; and                                             
17      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.