{
  "id": "RL33941",
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      "id": 347018,
      "date": "2009-03-04",
      "retrieved": "2016-04-07T02:41:56.345349",
      "title": "Polar Bears: Listing Under the Endangered Species Act",
      "summary": "On May 14, 2008, Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne announced the listing of polar bears as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The controversial decision highlights the intersection of two significant issues currently before Congress\u2014climate change and species protection. Under the ESA, a listing decision must rest solely on the best available scientific information concerning the species. Habitat loss has been a major reason for many decisions to add species to the list\u2014in this case, loss of Arctic sea ice. The listing itself was praised by some environmentalists, who nonetheless deplored interim protective regulations for the polar bear as being too weak. Other parties, who opposed the listing itself, argued that the science supporting listing was weak, but felt that the regulations mitigated some of the economic impacts of the listing.\nCongress is addressing the regulations. A provision in the 2009 omnibus appropriations bill (H.R. 1105) would allow the Secretaries of the Interior and Commerce to withdraw the regulations without any administrative steps, effectively eliminating the special rules that were promulgated for this species.\nPolar bears depend on Arctic sea ice, which most scientists acknowledge will be affected by climate change causing, at minimum, an earlier annual or seasonal thaw and a later freeze of coastal sea ice. Scientists generally agree that in recent decades, the observed extent of Arctic sea ice has declined significantly as the result of climate warming: annual ice break-up in many areas is occurring earlier and freeze-up later. Globally, less than one-third of the 19 known or recognized polar bear populations are declining, more than one-third are increasing or stable. For the remaining one-third there is insufficient data to estimate population trends. Two polar bear populations occur within U.S. jurisdiction. There is considerable uncertainty in estimates of polar bear population numbers and trends as well as in our understanding of polar bear habitat.\nPolar bears are affected by climate change, environmental contaminants, and subsistence and sport hunting. Arctic sea ice is experiencing a continuing decline that may not be reversed easily, and some models project that late summer (September) sea ice could even disappear completely by mid-century. Controversy exists over how great a threat the changing climate might be to polar bears and whether they might be able to adapt to these changing conditions.\nSome point out that polar bears today are not coping with changing climate alone, but also face a host of other human-induced factors\u2014including oil and gas exploration, shipping, contaminants, and reduced prey populations\u2014that compound the threat to their continued existence. Three main groups of contaminants threaten polar bears\u2014petroleum hydrocarbons, persistent organic pollutants, and heavy metals. The United States has allowed limited subsistence harvest of polar bears by Alaska Natives. In Canada, Native hunters are permitted to allocate a limited portion of the subsistence harvest to sport hunters. Under 1994 amendments to the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), U.S. citizens may obtain permits to import sport-harvested polar bear trophies from Canada. However, with ESA listing, polar bear populations are defined as depleted under MMPA, and therefore entry of these trophies is prohibited by MMPA.",
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      "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc806439/",
      "id": "RL33941_2008Sep02",
      "date": "2008-09-02",
      "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26",
      "title": "Polar Bears: Listing Under the Endangered Species Act",
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      "id": "RL33941_2008Jun02",
      "date": "2008-06-02",
      "retrieved": "2012-08-21T08:46:06",
      "title": "Polar Bears: Listing Under the Endangered Species Act",
      "summary": "This report discusses the protection of polar bears under the Endangered Species Act and how they are affected by climate change, contaminants, and subsistence and sport hunting.",
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      "id": "RL33941_2008Apr30",
      "date": "2008-04-30",
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      "id": "RL33941_2008Feb15",
      "date": "2008-02-15",
      "retrieved": "2012-08-07T13:52:45",
      "title": "Polar Bears: Proposed Listing Under the Endangered Species Act",
      "summary": "This report discusses the polar bear status and they are affected by climate change, contaminants, and subsistence and sport hunting.",
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      "id": "RL33941_2007Oct09",
      "date": "2007-10-09",
      "retrieved": "2016-06-02T05:26:07",
      "title": "Polar Bears: Proposed Listing Under the Endangered Species Act",
      "summary": "This report discusses the polar bear status and they are affected by climate change, contaminants, and subsistence and sport hunting.",
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      "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc813527/",
      "id": "RL33941_2007Jul17",
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      "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc816897/",
      "id": "RL33941_2007May14",
      "date": "2007-05-14",
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      "id": "RL33941_2007Apr23",
      "date": "2007-04-23",
      "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26",
      "title": "Polar Bears: Proposed Listing Under the Endangered Species Act",
      "summary": "This report discusses the proposed listing of polar bears as threatened under the Endangered Species\r\nAct (ESA; 16 U.S.C. \u00a7\u00a71531 et seq.), which highlights the intersection of two significant issues currently before Congress \u2014 climate change and species protection.",
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