Marine Mammals; Polar Bear Habitat Conservation

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

Marine Mammals; Polar Bear Habitat Conservation

agency: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

action: Availability of a draft Habitat Conservation Strategy for Polar

Bears in Alaska; request for comments.

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summary: Final Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) regulations

published in the Federal Register on November 16, 1993, authorized and

governed the incidental, unintentional take of small numbers of polar

bear and walrus during oil and gas industry operations year-round in

the Beaufort Sea and adjacent northern coast of Alaska. Those

regulations contained provisions requiring the Service by June 15,

1995, to develop and being implementing a strategy for the

identification and protection of important polar bear habitats. The

Service has developed a draft Habitat Conservation Strategy for Polar

Bears in Alaska (Strategy), announces its availability, and solicits

public comments.

dates: Comments on the draft Strategy must be received by May 1, 1995.

addresses: Copies of the draft Strategy are available by contacting the

Office of Marine Mammals Management, Fish and Wildlife Service, 1011 E.

Tudor Road, Anchorage, AK 99503; Telephone: 907/786-3800; FAX: 907/786-

3816.

Written comments should be submitted either by mail or FAX to David

McGillivary, Supervisor, Office of Marine Mammals Management at the

above identified address, telephone, or FAX numbers.

for further information contact: David McGillivary in Anchorage,

Alaska, at 907/786-3800.

supplementary information: The Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972

(Act) vested authority for management and conservation of polar bears

in the United States (i.e., Alaska) with the Service. Provisions in

section 101(a)(5) of the Act authorize the incidental, unintentional

take by U.S. citizens of small numbers of marine mammals (e.g., polar

bear) in specified activities other than commercial fishing. As defined

in section 3 of the Act, the term ``take'' means to harass, hunt,

capture, or kill, or attempt to harass, hunt, capture, or kill any

marine mammal.

While the Act authorizes these incidental takes, section 2(6) of

the Act states that:

Marine mammals *** should be protected and encouraged to develop

to the greatest extent feasible commensurate with sound policies of

resource management and that the primary objective of their

management should be to maintain the health and stability of the

marine ecosystem.

In this regard, section 112(a) of the Act authorizes the Secretary of

the Interior to prescribe regulations that are necessary and

appropriate to carry out the purposes of the Act.

In addition to its responsibilities under the Act, the Service has

further responsibilities under the 1973 International Agreement on the

Conservation of Polar Bears (International Agreement). Article II of

this International Agreement states that:

Each Contracting Party [i.e., Canada, Denmark, Norway, Russia,

and the U.S.] shall take appropriate action to protect the

ecosystems of which polar bears are a part, with special attention

to habitat components such as denning and feeding sites and

migration patterns ***

On December 17, 1991, BP Exploration (Alaska), Inc., for itself and

on behalf of 14 other oil and gas related companies operating in

Alaska, petitioned the Service to promulgate regulations pursuant to

section 101(a)(5) of the Act to allow for the incidental, unintentional

take of small numbers of polar bears and walrus during year-round oil

and gas activities (i.e., exploration, development, and production) in

the Beaufort Sea and adjacent northern coast of Alaska. Culminating a

two-year process, the Service ultimately published a final rule in the

Federal Register on November 16, 1993 (58 FR 60402), with final

regulations initially effective beginning on December 16, 1993, for an

18-month period through June 16, 1995.

Consistent with the intent of the International Agreement, the

final rule contains provisions that require the Service to develop and

begin implementing a strategy, as part of our management plan process

pursuant to section 115 of the Act, for the identification and

protection of important polar bear habitats. Development of a strategy,

as well as the initiation of steps to implement it, is necessary for

the Beaufort Sea final regulations to be extended beyond their initial

18 month effective period (now set to expire on June 16, 1995) for a

total 5-year period (through December 15, 1998) as authorized by the

Act.

Initiating efforts to develop this draft Strategy, the Service on

December 28, 1993, published a ``Notice of intent to prepare a polar

bear habitat protection strategy, conduct public meetings, and request

[for] information,'' in the Federal Register (58 FR 68659). Public

meetings were held in Anchorage and Barrow, Alaska, on January 20 and

25, 1994, respectively, in order to provide background information and

our proposed plan for development of a Strategy, and to solicit input

from those in attendance. The formal public comment period associated

with the Notice closed on February 11, 1994. Additional meetings

subsequently were held in coastal Alaska communities and discussions

have been conducted with Alaskan Native hunters to collect knowledge on

polar bear habitat use. The Service has also consulted with the Marine

Mammal Commission, signatories to the International Agreement, the

Department of State, the State of Alaska, the oil and gas industry,

conservation organizations, and academia. Information obtained during

these various efforts has been incorporated into the draft Strategy.

The objective of this Strategy is to identify and enhance

protection of important polar bear habitats in Alaska. This will enable

the United States to address the ecosystem protection provisions of the

Act and the Agreement, and to ensure oil and gas activities are

conducted in a manner that minimizes adverse impacts on polar bears,

their habitat, and on their availability for subsistence uses. Its goal

is to maintain the integrity of the ecosystem upon which polar bears

depend and to maintain polar bear populations at optimum sustainable

population levels. The Service hereby announces the availability of its

draft Strategy. Public review and comment is solicited. [[Page 10869]]

The Service has prepared a draft Environmental Assessment (EA) in

conjunction with the draft Strategy. A copy of the draft EA may be

obtained from the Service's Office of Marine Mammal Management

identified above in the addresses section.

Dated: February 17, 1995.

Bruce Blanchard,

Acting Director, Fish and Wildlife Service.

[FR Doc. 95-4903 Filed 2-27-95; 8:45 am]

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