Sierra Membership Discover of Intent to Sue Flags Company Failures to Shield Arctic Polar Bears from Oil & Gasoline Actions

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Flawed Fish and Wildlife Service Opinion Underestimates Results on Threatened Species

WASHINGTON, D.C. — At present, the Sierra Membership, represented by its Environmental Regulation Program, and allied organizations represented by Trustees for Alaska filed a discover flagging ESA violations by the Bureau of Land Administration and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that threaten polar bears with expanded oil and fuel exploration, drilling, and growth actions within the Coastal Plain of the Arctic Refuge—an space necessary for maternal polar bear denning

The discover letter asserts the Fish and Wildlife Service made defective assumptions in its September 2025 organic opinion, required beneath part 7 of the Endangered Species Act, and that the Bureau of Land Administration unlawfully relied on the flawed evaluation to re-adopt a reckless oil and fuel leasing program within the Arctic Refuge. That organic opinion incorporates quite a few authorized faults that lead to underestimating the consequences the proposed oil and fuel program would have on polar bears and their vital habitat.

Southern Beaufort Sea polar bears are one of many world’s most imperiled polar bear populations, and their new child cubs are among the many most weak creatures on Earth. Cubs youthful than two months can’t survive exterior their dens, and stay extremely weak thereafter, sometimes not rising from the den till they’re round 3.5 months outdated. The Coastal Plain of the Arctic Refuge is a crucial terrestrial maternal denning habitat as a result of the density of denning habitat is increased than most different areas of northern Alaska.

In response, Mike Scott, Sierra Membership’s Oil and Gasoline Marketing campaign Supervisor, launched the next assertion:

“Polar bears are one of many Arctic’s most iconic species, however they’re additionally one in all its most weak. The Trump administration’s ‘drill, child, drill’ agenda doesn’t give the Fish and Wildlife Service carte blanche — they nonetheless must observe the regulation.”

Concerning the Sierra Membership

The Sierra Membership is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental group, with thousands and thousands of members and supporters. Along with defending each particular person’s proper to get open air and entry the therapeutic energy of nature, the Sierra Membership works to advertise clear vitality, safeguard the well being of our communities, shield wildlife, and protect our remaining wild locations by way of grassroots activism, public training, lobbying, and authorized motion. For extra data, go to www.sierraclub.org.

Photograph by Pixabay, by way of Pexels