Give Ringed Seals the Home They Need
As the primary food for polar bears, ringed seals are a key link in the Arctic food chain -- but they're also fascinating and lovely in their own right. They use their long claws to excavate snow caves on top of sea ice to create shelters for nursing pups. But as the Arctic warms, tragically, the sea ice is breaking up earlier, and rain is falling on snow, causing these caves to collapse.
In 2012 the Center for Biological Diversity succeeded in protecting ringed seals as "threatened" under the Endangered Species Act. But now it's time to protect their sea-ice home, and we need your help.
The National Marine Fisheries Service recently proposed to protect more than 226 million acres of ringed seal habitat -- the largest critical habitat designation in history. But if oil companies like Shell have their way, this proposal will never become final, and these waters will be protected instead for oil rigs.
Take action today -- help us keep the pressure on the Fisheries Service to do the right thing and protect the seals' home from further destruction.
I am writing in support of your proposed designation of critical habitat for Arctic ringed seals and urge you to finalize this habitat just as proposed.
In crafting the Endangered Species Act, Congress recognized that protecting critical habitat is essential to recovering threatened and endangered species. And time has proven the wisdom of this approach: Studies show that species with designated critical habitat are more than twice as likely to be recovering as species without it.
Making this designation is the best way to ensure that development does not destroy habitat that's very much needed by ringed seals. And while assigning critical habitat will not affect the Arctic's subsistence hunters, it will make sure these seals still exist for future generations.
At present the Service's proposal includes the areas that are essential for the conservation of ringed seals -- but I urge you to move quickly and finalize this proposal. As you well know, these animals are threatened with extinction via the loss of their sea-ice habitat, and as the Earth continues to warm Arctic sea ice will continue to melt. Seals will have a harder time raising pups, feeding and molting. We must act now to protect their sea-ice habitat from further destruction.
Sincerely,
[Your name]
