Polar Bear

III. Management Goals and Criteria
D. Other Measures of Achievement
Fundamental Goals 4, 5, and 6 are not derived
directly from statute, but instead are included
because they are expressions of other societal values
that could be affected by polar bear management.
Performance requirements do not need to be
prescribed for these goals (as they do for ESA
recovery criteria and MMPA conservation criteria).
It is important, however, to measure achievement
of these goals, particularly to provide an adaptive
feedback loop for improving future conservation
actions. The following three measurement scales
provide quantitative expressions of these Fundamental
Goals.
Fundamental Goal 4, measurement scale: Cumulative
take (all human-caused removals) level over
the next 50 years for each subpopulation that
includes parts of Alaska. The cumulative take level
over the next 50 years represents the opportunity
for subsistence harvest by multiple generations
of Alaska Natives combined with other forms of
human-removal. We strive to ensure sustainable
continued harvest opportunities, although providing
the opportunity does not require that the take
actually occurs at the full level specified under
MMPA Demographic Criterion 2. Note that harvest
management under the guidelines of this Plan may
include ongoing harvest—even for populations
that are declining due to environmental effects—as
long as the harvest is responsibly managed (in
accordance with the MMPA Demographic Criterion
2) and does not in itself become a driver of declining
ability to secure long-term persistence.
Fundamental Goal 5, measurement scale: Number
of human/bear conflicts in Alaska that result in
injury or death to humans or bears. With decreasing
sea ice, we anticipate an increase in the number
of bears onshore and an increase in human activities
in the Arctic. This combination will likely result in
an increase in human-bear encounters. To ensure
that the measurement scale actually reflects the
effectiveness of conservation efforts in improving
human safety, monitoring of additional variables
associated with human-bear encounters will be
needed to provide context.
Fundamental Goal 6, measurement scale: Economic
impacts of polar bear management actions,
where “economic impacts” means additional cost
(direct expense, indirect expense, lost or foregone
opportunity, additional time) associated with a
specific action. This goal acknowledges that while
our primary goal is polar bear conservation, we
recognize the need for compatible economic activity
in the United States Arctic. The measurement
scale provides a means to consider whether and
how potential conservation strategies and actions
may affect economic development, both locally and
globally. This allows a more explicit consideration
of the trade-offs between economic development
and conservation actions, to seek solutions in which
economic development does not undermine the
ability to achieve recovery and conservation of polar
bears, and in which conservation does not unnecessarily
limit economic development.
USFWS
Polar Bear Conservation Management Plan 33