Articles

Author:  Damien M. Schiff Yesterday, a U.S.-backed proposal to ban the international trade in polar bear parts, under the aegis of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, was defeated.  The principal opponents of the ban were Canada, Norway, and Greenland, who argued that a ban would pose a serious financial injury ...

Author:  Damien M. Schiff Recently, I visited the San Diego Zoo.  While passing through the Zoo's polar bear exhibit, I came across the display below:  a not-so-subtle endorsement of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's listing of the polar bear under the Endangered Species Act. A quick bit of internet research revea ...

Author: Damien M. Schiff Last week, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service announced the release for comment of its draft economic impact analysis of the proposed critical habitat designation for the polar bear. (Recall that the polar bear is currently listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Pursuant to the R ...

Author:  Anne Hayes Today, PLF attorney Reed Hopper appeared before Judge Emmet Sullivan of the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia to argue against the listing of the Polar Bear as "threatened" under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).  Details of PLF's challenge can be found on PLF's website and i ...

Author: Reed Hopper After months of preparation, 15 attorneys (including myself) were sitting in the D.C. District Court last Wednesday to finally argue the much anticipated listing challenges to the polar bear.  Although the overall polar bear population is the highest in recorded history and there is no current or immediate precipitous decl ...

Author: Brandon Middleton Via the Financial Times, a nice summary by Marlo Lewis on how the Endangered Species Act may eventually be used to limit an individual's day-to-day activities.  An excerpt: Once the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) listed the polar bear as a “threatened species” on the supposition that carbon dioxide ( ...

Author: Reed Hopper On October 21, the day after the first hearing on the listing challenge to the polar bear, the Pacific Legal Foundation and the Heritage Foundation co-sponsored a panel discussion on the polar bear, the Endangered Species Act, and the implications for our country.    The United States Fish and Wildlife Service, at & ...

Author: Reed Hopper As we noted in our Oct 25 post, What's it all mean?, the D.C. District Court has rescheduled oral argument in the listing challenge to the polar bear.  The new date is February 23, 2011.  This is to allow time for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to offer an interpretation of the term … ...

Author:  Damien M. Schiff Today the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issued a final critical habitat designation for the polar bear.  The designation covers over 180,000 square miles.  Yet the Service estimates that the economic impact of the designation, over a 29-year period, will amount to less than $700,000 total, or just $54,00 ...