Feds Lawfully OK’d Incidental Harm to Beaufort Sea Polar Bears

The US Fish and Wildlife Service lawfully authorized the “incidental take” of Southern Beaufort Sea polar bears due to oil and gas activities, a federal judge ruled, largely adopting a report and recommendation by a magistrate judge.

Alaska Wildlife Alliance and other conservation groups sued the service, alleging that the authorization of incidental take—harming or killing—of threatened polar bears and Pacific walruses from oil and gas activities in the Beaufort Sea area could cause irreparable harm to the populations, which already face threats due to climate change.

The biological opinion, which determined that no more than 443 polar bears would ...