MOSCOW, August 12 (RAPSI) – The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has been asked to overturn a lower court's ruling rejecting the creation of a vast polar bear habitation zone in the Arctic, Associated Press has reported.
According to Associated Press, The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has designed a plan establishing a habitation area for polar bears. 95% of the marked territory is proposed to be located in the Arctic Ocean while the other 5% would consist of the northern Alaska coast. Coastal area is used by polar bears for creation of dens and breeding.
The plan is criticized by the state of Alaska and industrial conglomerates with business interests in the Arctic, Associated Press has reported. In 2013 U.S. District Court Judge Ralph Beistline ruled against the federal plan finding the proposed land mass size arbitrary high. Federal experts argue that the estimations were made with the best data available as required by law.