Earth's Natural Resources
The grizzly bear is one of North America’s most recognizable creatures. It’s also officially listed as a "threatened" species. Its numbers are so low that we worry about it becoming endangered or extinct. Despite its scary image, the grizzly bear is vulnerable to human activities that are taking away its habitat and polluting its environment. One large grizzly bear population is in Yellowstone National Park. Another one is in Alaska.
But areas of Yellowstone and Alaska also contain deposits of natural resources we would be hard-pressed to live without—oil, natural gas, copper, and gold. As long as the grizzly bear is listed as threatened, we cannot legally extract these resources. There is a battle between two opposing parties. There are those who think development of natural resources for the good of human society is best, even if that means sacrificing grizzly bears. And there are those who wish to protect the grizzlies from endangerment, even if that means that we humans sacrifice some of the oil and gold we could get from those areas.
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