Polar Bear Habitat Receives Record Number of Bids

By Monisha Bansal
CNSNews.com
Staff Writer
February 06, 2008
(Update: Royal Dutch Shell was the highest bidder for leases in the Chukchi Sea off Alaska's northwest coast. The federal Minerals Management Service will take about 90 days to review bids.)

(CNSNews.com) - The Minerals Management Service received a record number of bids for oil and gas exploration in the Chukchi Sea on Wednesday, land that is home to 20 percent of the world's polar bears.Environmental groups have challenged the sale. They say the Bush administration delayed classifying the polar bear as an endangered species until the sale could be completed. The official deadline for classification was Jan. 9, 2008, but the Fish and Wildlife Service has yet to make a decision.

http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewNation.asp?Page=/Nation/archive/200802/NAT20080206c.html