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U.S. groups fight to preserve polar bear hunt

By Katherine O'Neill

Globe and Mail, August 4, 2009

American polar bear hunters seemed destined for extinction last year when the U.S. government listed the iconic Arctic predator as “threatened” due to the rapid melting of its sea-ice habitat. As a result, hunters were prohibited from importing their prized trophies into the United States. Animal rights and environmental groups thought the financial lifeline of Canada's controversial and lucrative polar bear sport hunting industry – the last legal one left in the world – was about to be killed off. But powerful and well-financed American hunting groups have shot back with political lobbying efforts and a handful of lawsuits to overturn the listing under the Endangered Species Act.

Helping lead the fight is John J. Jackson III, a Louisiana-based lawyer and head of Conservation Force, a sport hunting advocacy group. He played a role in persuading the U.S. government in 1994 to reopen its borders to polar bear trophies harvested in approved Canadian polar bear populations.

Between 1972 and 1994, it was illegal to import the expensive hides into the United States. (American sport hunters haven't been able to legally kill polar bears on their own soil since the early 1970s).

Mr. Jackson is also helping American hunters who killed bears right before the importation ban came into effect, in May, 2008, get their trophies through customs. Most are wealthy, some are not.

“I've got everyone from American lieutenants on leave from Iraq to 80-year-old grandmothers who took polar bears that spring and can't get them back,” Mr. Jackson said in an interview.

He is upset with environmental and animal rights groups that he claims have unfairly made the polar bear into “the panda bear of North America.”

Canada, which is home to two-thirds of the world's estimated 22,200 to 25,000 polar bears, is the only country that still allows this type of hunt, which must be Inuit-guided. Some estimate that before the ban the industry was worth $3-million annually for Canada's North.

At least 39 polar bear trophies owned by American hunters are currently trapped in Canada due to the importation ban.

Dale Warren, president of Talon Distribution Ltd. in Edmonton, is storing 13 of them. Some are in cardboard boxes waiting to be tanned, while others are already in cold-storage.

Mr. Warren expects the trophies will eventually be shipped south to their owners. “These lawyers are working pretty hard,” he said. “And most of these fellas that came up and went hunting, we are dealing with some pretty high-profile guys, guys with lots of money.”

Pat Frederick helps run Ameri-Cana Expeditions Inc., a family-owned business in Edmonton that arranges big-game hunts around the world. He is optimistic the listing will be reconsidered and Americans will start lining up again.

“There is still is interest, although it wasn't like it was before. But it still one of the most exotic hunting trips in the world,” Mr. Frederick said. American hunters who harvested bears this year have left their trophies in Canada, hoping the law will eventually change, he added.

While official numbers from this year's polar bear sport hunt haven't been tallied yet, Mr. Frederick and outfitters across the North are reporting business is way down. Before 2008, about 70 per cent of all international polar bear hunters who travelled to Nunavut were from the United States, according to the territorial government.

The price of the expensive hunt has also declined. In certain communities, a sports hunter can now bag a bear for $15,000 to $20,000 (U.S.). At its peak, a hunt cost $35,000 (U.S.). The price tag helps pay for gas, the Inuit guides and supplies.

Mr. Frederick said conservation groups may be celebrating because this largely reviled sport hunt has been hit hard, but they should remember the same number of polar bears will still be harvested every year, regardless if an American big-game hunter stays home or not.

For example, in Nunavut, which is home to most of Canada's polar bears, each community receives annually a certain number of hunting permits, which are known as bear tags. A small number is usually set aside for sport hunters. If they aren't used, Inuk hunters may use them.

Kassie Siegel of the Center for Biological Diversity, a lawyer and lead author of the petition that led to last year's listing of the polar bear, said her American organization's main priority is protecting the large marine carnivore from the dangers of extinction due to climate change, and not debating the issues surrounding trophy hunting or even polar bear tourism.

“We aren't going to have either one if we don't address global warming,” she said.

However, Ms. Siegel said sport hunting in some of Canada's 13 polar bear populations is “exacerbating” the species' decline.

The Center for Biological Diversity and other conservation groups have joined the legal battle growing around the polar bear listing (they don't think it went far enough). All of the lawsuits have been consolidated into one case.

Ms. Siegel expects a judgment won't be made until next year at the earliest because of the number of parties involved, including the State of Alaska. “The whole process could go on for quite some time,” she said.

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