In what they called a "virtually unnoticed" problem, environmentalists and scientists charged that oil drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge could seriously disrupt reproduction of polar bears, which are protected under federal law.
The drilling critics Tuesday cited a recent report by the federal Marine Mammal Commission that expressed concern that road-building and other industrial activity in the refuge could disturb female bears when they enter winter dens and give birth to cubs.The commission's December 1990 report said research showed that if disturbed by vibrations or noise, mother bears are likely to abandon their dens before cubs are able to travel with them or fend for themselves.
The commission's findings are particularly significant because polar bears - which spend much of their life at sea on Arctic pack ice - are accorded special federal protection under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. As a result, the government is legally required to ensure their survival.
In addition, the United States signed an international treaty with other Arctic nations in 1976 to protect polar bear denning habitat.