Anchorage Daily News

A conservation group gave notice Tuesday that it will sue to force federal action on a petition to list the Pacific walrus as a threatened species because of threats from global warming and offshore petroleum development.

The deadline was May 8 for an initial 90-day review of the petition by the U.S. Department of the Interior, according to Center for Biological Diversity attorney Brendan Cummings.

The group filed the petition in February.

Shaye Wolf, a biologist and lead author of the petition, said Arctic sea ice is disappearing faster than the best predictions of climate models.

"As the sea ice recedes, so does the future of the Pacific walrus," she said.

The conservation group was one of three that successfully petitioned to have polar bears listed as threatened because of sea ice loss caused by global warming, a decision announced May 14 by Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne. That listing also followed court action to force deadline decisions.

Bruce Woods, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service spokesman in Anchorage, said the agency is close to finishing a walrus survey.

"We do have a population count from the 2006 survey that should be finalized soon," he said. "That will give us a better basis for evaluating the petition."

The law calls for a 90-day review to determine whether listing petitions contain "substantial information." If a petition passes that first hurdle, the agency has nine months more to perform a status review on walruses and determine whether a listing may be warranted.

If a species is proposed for listing, the agency has one more year to collect additional scientific research and public testimony.

Arctic sea ice last summer dwindled to 1.65 million square miles, the lowest level since satellite measurements began in 1979, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center at the University of Colorado.

As many as 6,000 walruses late last summer and fall abandoned the remaining ice, which covered deep water, and congregated on Alaska's northwest shore.

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