I hope we have a legislature and Governor who will haul them to court. Somehow I don 't think our two Senators or our Representative will back the state. All they can think about is how to bring in more federal dollars. If they can shut down some of the oil developement that will give them an excuse to rob a few more tax dollars to sent up here to their lackeys, aka supporters. Where's the barf emicon when you need it?

Mixed emotions.  Like securing habitat for animals.  Don't like the federal government interfering in what should be a state issue and don't like decisions based on pseudo-science and not real science.

Are the polar bears really endangered?  From what I've read they're not.

I'm all for protecting endangered species, but the simple fact of the matter is that polar bears aren't being protected because their numbers are down or even dropping.  They're being protected based the idea that they'll BECOME threatened if global warming reduces habitat.  Yep...it's POTENTIAL endangerment, not actual endangerment.  And we all know how the global warming scam is rapidly unraveling.  IMO the whole issue has nothing to do with polar bears...it's an effort to shut down development on the North Slope.

Maybe I'm wrong about the polar bears but these are the top land predators on the planet.  these animals are the sharks of the surface world.  They are not endangered, because they are highly adaptable. 

EVEN if the sea ice goes away, guess what? The polar bears move onto land and start pulling down caribou instead of seals.

It is the atural order of things and until / unless they start moving into conflict with humans for the same land area, I think that the polar bears are going to be just fine.

But that's just my opinion.....

This is the kind of thing Alaskans know but the environmentalists don't want you to see.  So much for the argument that polar bears can't survive without sea ice...

http://alaskareport.com/news31/z51147_bear_yukon.htm

Did you see the report that showed a polar bear mama and her cub standing on an ice floe that had separated from the main ice pack?

The supposition was that they were stranded and wouldn't be able to swim back to solid ground - er, ice before drowning.

It was an argument for the global warming issue, of course, used to draw an emotional response.

What they didn't report was the fact that polar bears are very strong swimmers and have been documented to swim for hours without resting, covering over 60 miles.

Now they need 187,000 acres to call their own?

Obama will probably issue an executive order while Congress is in recess.