A U.S. proposal to list polar bears as a threatened species could hurt Nunavut's sport hunting industry, a territorial government official says.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Wednesday that it would take the next years to decide whether to list the world's estimated 22,000 to 25,000 polar bears as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act.

The polar bear sport hunt is important to the economies of smaller Nunavut communities.
(CBC News)

Three environmental groups have been pushing the administration of President George W. Bush to list the bears because global warming is destroying their habitat.

However, the Nunavut government is concerned the listing would hurt the territory's lucrative polar bear hunt, said Steve Pinksen, director of policy, planning and legislation for Nunavut's Environment Department.

"We are disappointed," Pinksen told CBC News on Wednesday. "It has a potential for impacts directly upon our economy, particularly in the smaller communities, and that's always a concern, so we certainly are a little bothered by the situation."

American hunters spend thousands of dollars for the chance to hunt a polar bear and take the trophy home.

"If the listing goes forward and there's any restrictions on imports into the U.S. or taking of bears by American hunters, that would very likely have a direct impact on our sport hunts," Pinksen said.

"It's a couple years down the road, even if the listing does go through, but it'll be bad whatever it is."

But the environmental groups behind the proposal say they are not targeting the sports hunt but rather hoping to encourage the U.S. government to take action to reduce climate change.

"It is possible that a species listed under the Endangered Species Act, that the Fish and Wildlife Service would still allow importation of sport-hunted trophies if they found that the hunting was consistent with the conservation of the species," said Kassie Siegel, who is with the Arizona-based Center for Biological Diversity.

Interested parties, such as the Nunavut government, have three months to send their comments to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.