Viewing cable 07OTTAWA250, NUNAVUT PREMIER EXPRESSES CONCERNS OVER POLAR BEAR

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RR RUEHGA RUEHHA RUEHQU RUEHVC
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ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 091359Z FEB 07
FM AMEMBASSY OTTAWA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4963
RUEHC/DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR WASHDC
INFO RUCNCAN/ALL CANADIAN POSTS COLLECTIVE
RUEHCP/AMEMBASSY COPENHAGEN 2320
RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW 2142
RUEHNY/AMEMBASSY OSLO 2337
RUEHVK/AMCONSUL VLADIVOSTOK 0001

UNCLAS OTTAWA 000250 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR OES AND WHA 
INTERIOR FOR FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV CA
SUBJECT: NUNAVUT PREMIER EXPRESSES CONCERNS OVER POLAR BEAR 
LISTING TO AMBASSADOR 
 
REF: 2007 QUEBEC 002 
 
Sensitive but Unclassified. Please protect accordingly. Not 
for Internet distribution. 
 
¶1. (SBU) Nunavut premier Paul Okalik called on Ambassador on 
February 7 to express his concerns over the Fish and Wildlife 
Service's December 27 announcement proposing to list the 
polar bear as "threatened" under the Endangered Species Act. 
Economic Minister-Counselor and ESTH Counselor also sat in on 
the meeting. Okalik stressed that Nunavut monitored its 
polar bear populations carefully, and that only one of twelve 
distinct populations in Nunavut (the Western Hudson Bay 
population) was in less than peak condition. That situation 
was of concern, Okalik noted, but he continued that Nunavut 
was not afraid to completely ban hunting ) even for the 
Inuit ) if the situation warranted such a move. 
 
¶2. (SBU) The Ambassador noted that the Fish and Wildlife 
Service would make its determination (on whether to list the 
polar bear as threatened) based on scientific evidence, and 
urged Okalik to provide formal comment to the Service in 
response to the Federal Register Notice. He added that 
Nunavut's own monitoring data and information on its healthy 
populations, in addition to information on the role of the 
polar bear in Nunavut economics and culture, would be 
particularly helpful to the Service in making its final 
determination. The Ambassador suggested that Okalik also 
enlist the assistance of the Canadian government and its 
embassy in Washington in making its case to Fish and 
Wildlife. Okalik responded that officials of his government 
would see federal Environment Minister John Baird the week of 
February 12-16 to do precisely that. 
 
¶3. (SBU) In describing for the Ambassador the important 
economic and cultural role played by the polar bear, Okalik 
related that the income gained from provision of services to 
hunters was virtually the only cash income for many Nunavut 
communities, and those funds stayed and circulated in the 
communities. With the restrictions the "threatened" 
designation would carry, at least some portion of the 
estimated 80-100 U.S. hunters that now visit Nunavut annually 
would no longer come to hunt. There would be a negative 
impact on the economies of those communities. Okalik 
impressed on the Ambassador that Nunavut took its 
responsibility to manage carefully its polar bear populations 
seriously. Maintaining healthy populations was in Nunavut's 
own interest for these economic reasons as well as for 
dietary and cultural reasons. To this end, Nunavut was also 
working closely with neighbors Quebec and Greenland, with 
which Nunavut shares polar bear populations, urging them to 
institute sustainable management practices as well. 
 
¶4. (SBU) In response to the Ambassador's question, Okalik 
said it was too early to tell whether climate change was 
negatively impacting Nunavut's polar bears, especially in the 
Territory's northern reaches, since only one of its 
populations was not completely healthy. Okalik said he was 
not aware of involvement by environmental NGOs in proposing 
the listing; NGOs had not been active in Nunavut. (Note: 
The Federal Register Notice announcing the proposed listing 
records the Center for Biological Diversity, Greenpeace, and 
Natural Resources Defense Council as the petitioners to Fish 
and Wildlife Service in the matter.) 
 
¶5. (U) Okalik estimates polar bears in Nunavut number 
Q5. (U) Okalik estimates polar bears in Nunavut number 
20,000-25,000, roughly half of the world's total. Other 
reporting indicates that Nunavut communities take in C$2.5-3 
million annually from the provision of hunting services. 
Reftel provides extensive review of Nunavut arguments in 
opposition to the "threatened" listing for polar bears. 
 
Visit Canada's Classified Web Site at 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/ottawa 
 
WILKINS