Please consider e-mailing the Secretary of the Interior to delay oil & gas exploration in the Arctic.  Go to http://wwf.worldwildlife.org
and click on the photo of the polar bears.  This brings up a letter that you can edit, 'sign', and send.
Thanks
Dave Gorchov
______________________________
From: World Wildlife Fund [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Sunday, February 03, 2008 7:00 AM
To: Negron-Ortiz, Vivian Dr.
Subject: WWF E-newsletter Alert:  Polar Bears Need Urgent Protection

POLAR BEARS NEED URGENT PROTECTION

© Steven Morello

Polar Bear Populations At Risk<http://wwf.worldwildlife.org/site/R?i=8UTAIYw_i6NC0p-OOJL4vQ..>
In only three days, on February 6, the Department of the Interior plans to move ahead with leasing nearly 30 million acres in Alaska's pristine Chukchi Sea for oil and gas activities.

Together, the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas support an estimated one-fifth of the world's polar bear population. The polar bear's existence is already threatened by the impact of climate change-induced loss of sea ice. Its chances for survival will be greatly diminished if much of its remaining critical habitat is turned into a vast oil and gas field. The Chukchi Sea lease must be halted until protective measures are in place for the polar bear.

WHAT YOU CAN DO NOW
Take action and urge the Secretary of the Interior to stop the lease sale<http://wwf.worldwildlife.org/site/R?i=ymWZ3rDzdDtM0c1lnmLgiQ..>

In early January, the US Fish and Wildlife Service released a proposal to list the polar bear as "threatened" under the Endangered Species Act. However, a final decision has yet to be made. On January 30, Margaret Williams, WWF’s Director of the Bering Sea ecoregion program, called for urgent action to save polar bears at the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works hearing entitled “Examining Threats and Protections for the Polar Bear.” The hearing was convened to examine existing protections for the polar bear and other measures that may be needed. WWF supports the position to classify the polar bear as threatened, based on a large volume of compelling information about significant changes in the polar bear's Arctic sea ice habitat.

WWF has worked around the world's Arctic regions for over 20 years and has been a voice for the conservation of biodiversity, protected areas, wildlife and cultural values central to the indigenous peoples of the North. WWF is the only environmental NGO active in all of the Arctic countries. Polar bears, the charismatic icon of the polar environment, have long been a focus in WWF's on-the-ground research and conservation projects in the Arctic - also with regard to climate change.

LEARN MORE
 *   Listen to Margaret Williams' testimony<http://wwf.worldwildlife.org/site/R?i=o2JJBdVE6bXOw-ZMXbzJGg..>
 *   Learn more about WWF's work in the Arctic and polar bear conservationhttp://wwf.worldwildlife.org/site/R?i=s2Djs4B5ptqAUfEVRlWtXw..


World Wildlife Fund<http://wwf.worldwildlife.org/site/R?i=3m-yyoVd4hbV5fJOMDnGXg..>
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Washington, DC 20037-1193






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