Comment on FR Doc # 2012-09403

I would like to recommend that the Fish & Wildlife Service do all that is possible to protect the Polar Bear so that this species thrives and not just survives. In order to do this it is imperative that the FWS and other involved parties acknowledge the real threat to the Polar Bear and numerous other species – climate change and in this case its direct effects on production and existence of ice floes that the Polar Bear depends on for navigation and access to food. Unfortunately none of the four proposed alternatives even mention this root cause. It is not valid that just because your agency doesn’t have the lone ability to address climate change that you fail to address this direct cause of stress upon Polar Bears. I encourage your agency to address these issues in your environmental impact statements and to work with other agencies both governmental and N.G.O.’s to ensure that the Polar Bear is not something only found in Zoo’s or books. Sincerely, Erik Alan Pikula