• Polar bear wins limited protection
• Bush administration proposes protecting polar bear

Under pressure from a lawsuit filed by NRDC, the Center for Biological Diversity and other groups, the Bush administration announced that it is formally proposing to protect the polar bear under the Endangered Species Act -- a crucial first step toward saving the bear from the ravages of global warming.

Earlier in the year, BioGems Defenders and other concerned Americans from all 50 states sent more than 100,000 messages expressing their support for federal protections for the polar bear.