(Fairbanks, AK) -- Santa's elves will be answering letters this year after all. The U.S. Postal Service announced Friday it's reversing an earlier decision and resuming the letters to Santa program.

The program uses volunteers to respond to the more than 150-thousand letters to Santa Claus that accumulate at the North Pole, Alaska post office each year.

In announcing the decision, officials say new security measures to protect the identity of letter writers will ensure personal information about small children doesn't fall into the wrong hands.

The Fairbanks "Daily News-Miner" reports leaders at the Christmas-themed city applauded the decision and credit Alaska postal workers for acting to keep the tradition alive.

Members of the state's congressional delegation had written to the postmaster general about the decision to curtail the service over security concerns.

Last Christmas, a postal worker recognized a registered sex offender among the volunteers with access to "Dear Santa" letters in Maryland.

(Copyright 2009 by VERTEXNews/Newsroom Solutions)