[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 38, Number 28 (Monday, July 15, 2002)]
[Page 1177]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Message to the Senate Transmitting the Russia-United States Agreement on 
the Conservation and Management of the Alaska-Chukotka Polar Bear 
Population

July 11, 2002

To the Senate of the United States:

    With a view to receiving the advice and consent of the Senate to 
ratification, I transmit herewith the Agreement between the Government 
of the United States of America and the Government of the Russian 
Federation on the Conservation and Management of the Alaska-Chukotka 
Polar Bear Population done at Washington on October 16, 2000 (the 
``U.S.-Russia Agreement''). I also transmit, for the information of the 
Senate, the report of the Department of State with respect to that 
Agreement.
    The U.S.-Russia Agreement provides legal protections for this 
population of polar bears in addition to those found in the Agreement on 
the Conservation of Polar Bears done at Oslo, November 13, 1973 (the 
``1973 Agreement''), which was a significant, early step in the 
international conservation of polar bears. The 1973 Agreement is a 
multilateral treaty to which the United States and Russia are parties. 
(The other parties are Norway, Canada, and Denmark.) The 1973 Agreement 
provides authority for the maintenance of a subsistence harvest of polar 
bears and provides for habitat conservation.
    The proposed U.S.-Russia Agreement, which would operate as a free-
standing treaty separate from the 1973 Agreement, is the culmination of 
an 8-year effort. The U.S.-Russia Agreement builds on the 1973 Agreement 
to establish a common legal, scientific, and administrative frame work 
for the conservation and management of the Alaska-Chukotka polar bear 
population, which is shared by the United States and the Russian 
Federation. For example, the U.S.-Russia Agreement provides a definition 
of ``sustainable harvest'' that will help the United States and Russia 
to implement polar bear conservation measures while safeguarding the 
interests of native people. In addition, the U.S.-Russia Agreement 
establishes the U.S.-Russia Polar Bear Commission, which would function 
as the bilateral managing authority to make scientific determinations, 
establish taking limits, and carry out other responsibilities under the 
terms of the U.S.-Russia Agreement. The proposed U.S.-Russia Agreement 
would strengthen the conservation of our shared polar bear population 
through a coordinated sustainable harvest management program.
    Early ratification of the U.S.-Russia Agreement by the United States 
will reinforce our leadership role in international conservation of 
marine mammals and will encourage similar conservation action by other 
countries. I recommend that the Senate give early and favorable 
consideration to this Agreement and give its advice and consent to 
ratification.
                                                George W. Bush
 The White House,
 July 11, 2002.