Abstract

Rapid climate change in the Arctic has accelerated the loss of sea ice,

threatening the survival of one of Alaska's most vital species: the bearded seal. In

2012, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) listed the bearded seal as

"threatened" under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Ten years later, the

agency designated approximately 174 million acres of occupied critical habitat for

the seals on the northern coast of Alaska, along the Bering, Chukchi, and Beaufort

Seas. NMFS reasoned that a large designation was necessary to account for the

dynamic and seasonal nature of sea ice. In 2024, however, the U.S. District Court

of Alaska vacated the designation, holding that NMFS failed to adequately

explain why the area was "essential" to the conservation of the bearded seal. The

district court relied on a flawed reading of the United States Supreme Court's

decision in Weyerhaeuser Co. v. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Fortunately,

in March 2026, the Ninth Circuit reversed the district court's decision and

reinstated the bearded seals' critical habitat designation. Still, this evolution

reveals a troubling trend in habitat protection and underscores the need for the

immediate, proactive protection of our planet's most vulnerable species from

climate change.

Publication Citation

Caitlyn Leary, Protecting Bearded Seals in Alaska: The ESA, Critical Habitat Designations, and Climate Change, 42 Alaska Law Review 321-354 (2026)
Available at: https://scholarship.law.duke.edu/alr/vol42/iss2/4