ACTION TIMELINE

October 30, 2001 – In response to a push by the Bush administration and Alaska congressional delegation to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas development, the Center successfully filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit to force the release of information about the impacts of oil development on the polar bear. The lawsuit contested the suppression of a report concluding that opening the Arctic Refuge to oil development would likely violate the Polar Bear Agreement, an international treaty requiring the protection of polar bear habitat.

February 16, 2005 – The Center petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to list the polar bear as threatened under the Endangered Species Act due to global warming.

July 5, 2005 – Greenpeace and the Natural Resources Defense Council joined the Center’s petition.

December 15, 2005 – The Center, Greenpeace, and the Natural Resources Defense Council filed a lawsuit against the Service to force a response to the listing petition.

June 2006 – The Service reached a settlement with the Center and allies in which it agreed to issue a proposed ruling regarding the polar bear’s listing by the end of 2006.

December 27, 2006 – The Service announced its proposal to list the polar bear as threatened.

May 22, 2007 – A coalition of native Alaskans and conservation groups, including the Center, legally challenged Shell Offshore, Inc.’s plans to drill exploratory oil wells in the Beaufort Sea in the middle of habitat for several imperiled species, including the polar bear. The challenge resulted in a stay halting drilling in the area pending a court decision as to whether environmental harms were properly considered when Shell was granted an exploration permit.

March 10, 2008 – The Center, Greenpeace, and the Natural Resources Defense Council filed suit against the Fish and Wildlife Service for missing its legal deadline for issuing a final decision on listing the polar bear.

April 28, 2008 – A federal judge found that the Bush administration had violated the Endangered Species Act by delaying its listing decision on the polar bear. The judge ordered the Service to issue a final decision by May 15, 2008.

May 14, 2008 – Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne announced that the polar bear would be listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. He coupled his announcement with a declaration that the decision would not affect U.S. climate policy, as well as informing the public that he would implement a new rule allowing the United States to “continue to develop our natural resources in the arctic region” in what he dubiously termed “an environmentally sound way.”

May 16, 2008 – The Center filed new court papers to challenge the Bush administration’s attempt to withhold full protection from the bear.

July 8, 2008 – The Center and Pacific Environment filed suit against Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne for issuing regulations that would allow unlimited harassment of polar bears and Pacific walrus by oil companies operating in the Chukchi Sea off Alaska.

June 9, 2008 – The Center filed a notice of intent to sue the Department of the Interior for its failure to protect polar bears from oil development in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas.

June 16, 2008 – The Center, NRDC, and Greenpeace filed court papers seeking to intervene in a lawsuit challenging the polar bear’s Endangered Species Act listing. The suit had been brought against the Interior Department by the hunting advocacy group the Safari Club. The intervention was granted July 10 th.

August 15, 2008 – After the state of Alaska filed suit to have the polar bear removed from the endangered species list, the Center filed a motion to intervene.

October 6, 2008 – The Center, NRDC, and Greenpeace reached a partial settlement requiring the Secretary of the Interior to designate final critical habitat for the polar bear by June 2010 and to issue guidelines on non-lethal strategies under the Marine Mammal Protection Act to deal with bears that pose a threat to public safety by March 2010.