On Tuesday, alawyer of the Justice Department told an appeals court to uphold a United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS)plan which has been allocating swath of the Arctic region in the United States as habit for polar bear. The lawyer told the appeals court that the plan shouldbe defended over the objections of Alaska, a number of communities along the state’s north coast and some petroleum industry groups.

The lawyer,Robert Stockman, said that the federal plan which has been designating a huge area in the United States Arctic lacked specifics. According to Stockman, theagency of federal government within the United States Department of the Interior acted on the data provided some experts of polar bear.

Stockman said, “The service had to make a judgment call based on limited data”.

Polar bears were declared as a threatened species about seven years ago whenGeorge W. Bush was the president of the United States. The animal was listed under the threatened species because sea ice wasdiminishing. Polar bears, whose native range lies largely within the Arctic Circle, need sea ice to catch their prey and to breed.

The plan by the FWS designates about 187,000 square miles of area for polar bears. The habitat plan of the federal agency has been sued bythe state of Alaska, communities along Alaska's north coast and petroleum trade associations. According to the communities which have filed lawsuits against the plan, the designation could lead to a number of troubles, includingdelays in projects.