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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

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187,000 acres designated for polar bears

The Obama administration wants to set aside more than 200,000 square miles in Alaska for polar bears habitat.  (File Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
The Obama administration wants to set aside more than 200,000 square miles in Alaska for polar bears habitat. (File Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)

ENDANGERED SPECIES -- The Obama administration is setting aside 187,000 square miles in Alaska as a "critical habitat" for polar bears, an action that could add restrictions to future offshore drilling for oil and gas.

The total, which includes large areas of sea ice off the Alaska coast, is about 13,000 square miles, or 8.3 million acres, less than an amount planned in a preliminary plan released last year.

Read the entire Washington Post story.



Rich Landers
Rich Landers joined The Spokesman-Review in 1977. He is the Outdoors editor for the Sports Department writing and photographing stories about hiking, hunting, fishing, boating, conservation, nature and wildlife and related topics.

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