The National Wildlife Federation and our partners support the Incremental Restoration (Alternative C) option, which balances grizzly bear biology, important ecological factors in the proposed recovery zone, and the need for social acceptance of grizzly bears in recovery efforts. "Black bears are more abundant than cougars," Akenson said. Oct 23, 2018 | Grizzly Bear Resources Historically, an estimated 100,000 grizzlies lived in North America from Alaska to Mexico, the West Coast to the Mississippi River. The agency outlined a preliminary plan to create an experimental population by adding three to seven captured grizzly bears to the North Cascades for five to 10 years, with a goal of building an initial population up to about 25 bears. Urge Congress to Support It. Separate from the issue of reintroducing grizzly bears into the North Cascades, the recovery of grizzly bears in the lower 48 states is an amazing success story due to collaborative conservation efforts led by federal, Tribal, state and other partners. Ransom said that a few bears might be wandering the woods but that there arent enough to be considered a viable population and that theres little chance bears from other regions could travel far enough to jump-start populations. After that, the agencies would manage the bear population, expecting the bears population to grow to about 200 in another 60 to 100 years. Federal agencies are yet again considering plans to bring grizzly bears home to the deep forested valleys of the North Cascades where they once thrived. The opinions expressed in reader comments are those of the author only and do not reflect the opinions of The Seattle Times. The National Park Service and U.S. Daily Weather Forecast On Monday, the agencies extended the comments period by an additional 45 days, citing requests from members of the public and local officials. The Tucson-based Center for Biological Diversity filed a . U.S. Department of Interior news release: OMAK, WASHINGTONU.S. Secretary of the Interior David L.Bernhardtannounced today at a roundtable withcommunity members inOmak,Washingtonthat the Departmentof the Interior (Department)willnot move forwardwith anewGrizzly Bear Restoration Plan for the North CascadesEcosystemand the associated Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). Oregon as Grizzly Country But he said he's since learned more about grizzlies, which haven't been spotted in the U.S. portion of the North Cascades ecosystem since 1996. It does make for a very long road again to start from scratch, pretty much.. I gladly throw in $100. The grizzly has profound cultural significance and its restoration will enrich our ancestral lands and help restore the foundations of our cultural practices.. Please add you voice and speak up for grizzly recovery efforts in the North Cascades. Earlier this year, Alagona dispatched post-doctoral researcher Alex McInturff to Bishop, in the Eastern Sierras, to gauge local attitudes around grizzly reintroduction an initiative unavoidably restructured when COVID-19 scuppered plans for focus groups and on-site interviews. Representative Newhouse has been a tireless advocate for his community and his constituents regarding plans to reintroduce grizzly bears into the North Cascades Ecosystem,said Secretary Bernhardt. Fish & Wildlife Service announced Thursday they would look at options to bring back the big brown bears. The bears were a critical part of the ecosystem, turning soil as they dug for roots, eating berries and distributing the seeds in their scat, and keeping small animal populations in check. A grizzly limb bone discovered in Oregon Caves in the Klamath Mountains may be more than 50,000 years old, which would rank among the earliest brown-bear fossils found in North America. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has recently opened a public comment period on the reintroduction of grizzlies to the North Cascades. More information about the Departments efforts toimprove thestatus of grizzly bears in the lower 48 U.S. states can be foundonline. Grizzlies in the Western Valleys "I know it seems odd. Fish and Wildlife Service released a document in January describing four ideas for reintroducing grizzly bears to the North Cascadesregion in Washington state. Local and national environmental groups have praised the decision. Reading essays like this warms my heart and makes me dream of better days in the future! Fish and Wildlife Service prepared a plan in 2000 that called for rebuilding the Selway-Bitterroot's grizzly . Species reintroduction is the deliberate release of a species into the wild, from captivity or other areas where the organism is capable of survival. Carefully document the entire Grizzly Bear reintroduction process so that lessons can be shared with other areas in need of Grizzly Bear reintroduction (including Oregon, California, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico). In an emailed press release, Joe Scott, international program director for Conservation Northwest, said that the announcement ushers in an exciting chapter for grizzly bear restoration in the North Cascades., After 30 years of analyses, process and discussions we have a clear way forward, he said. JavaScript is disabled. OtoPro SoundGear Phantom and Impulse Review, Vortex Razor HD 4000 GB Rangefinder Review, Toric UHD 2.5-15x44mm FFP Hunt Series Riflescope Review, Hunting Big Mule Deer after Mid-October with Cliff Gray. Threatened grizzly bears could roam again in the wildest reaches of Washington state. Grizzly bears were added to the list of threatened species in the lower 48 states in 1975 and have been listed as an endangered species in Washington since 1980. The wolves have kept the park's population of elks . The most likely scenario for reintroducing grizzlies to the North Cascades would see the NPS and USFWS relocate captured bears from the Rocky Mountains or Western Canada to the ecosystem over the course of five to ten years, releasing as many as seven bears per year. The National Park Service and U.S. Published: September 27, 2019 ", Inman said that he wishes he had done his call-out for comments by "starting from the basics" on grizzly bear behavior and diet, then building to the notion that they're "bunnies who happen to weigh 800 pounds.". Representative Dan Newhouse (R-WA), whose district includes part of the North Cascades ecosystem, welcomed the Trump administrations termination of the reintroduction process in 2015. In a press release, the NPS said that the agencies would begin work on a new Environmental Impact Statement to evaluate several potential plans for reintroducing the animals, including naming them a 10(j) experimental population. The public comment period on grizzly bear restoration in the North Cascades will remain open until October 24th, 2019. The recovery of grizzly bears in the lower 48 states is an amazing success. Washingtons portion of the North Cascades Ecosystem (shared with British Columbia) is among the most ecologically intact regions in the continental United States, still providing safe homes for nearly all of the post-Pleistocene species native to this sublime landscape. Once we have an "army" of these bears built up, we air drop them into heavily populated areas of CA and let them work their magic. Join Outside+ to get access to exclusive content, 1,000s of training plans, and more. Severe Weather According to a USFWS fact sheet, that designation would list the new population of grizzly bears as threatened and would give land managers wider latitude by relaxing certain rules designed to protect them. My constituents and I have consistently opposed proposals to do so under multiple administrations because introducing an apex predator to the area would threaten the families, wildlife, and livestock of North Central Washington, Newhouse said in a statement Thursday. Create, restore, and protect habitat connections within and beyond the NCE including to the Selkirk, Cabinet/Yaak, Bitterroot, and Yellowstone Ecosystems so that the movement of bears and other wide-ranging species can naturally occur, and the reintroduced Grizzly Bear population is not geographically isolated. Without them our wild areas are diminished, less diverse and sanitized. Now that the comments period has been extended to April 28, he's have time for more pro-bear comics. Can you tell myth from fact? The restoration is needed to help restore the biodiversity of the region and help ensure the survival of the species and, eventually, remove it from the endangered list, according to a joint statement by both sponsoring agencies. Terry Tollefsbol/USFWS The National. More than 125 organizations have called upon national leaders to restrict certain pesticides in an effort to save pollinators. Fish and Wildlife Services have led these efforts for self-sustaining grizzly bear populations, primarily focused in six areas of Idaho, Montana, Washington and Wyoming. I see them as dogs. With the publics help, we will evaluate a list of options to determine the best path forward.. Scientists identified the mountain range as prime habitat for grizzly bear reintroduction in 1997, like it had been for thousands of years. The North Cascades are one of six USFWS-designated grizzly bear recovery zones in the U.S., spanning 9,000 square miles of mostly federal land. North Cascades National Park has renewed efforts to evaluate how grizzly bears could be reintroduced to the park, restarting the effort that began in 2014 under the Obama administration. The Associated Press reports responders have deployed absorbent pads and protective booms. It wasnt a lack of food or other resources. Research is underway to see what grizzly bears might eat if they were reintroduced to California. It's no Bellingham, WA lawmakers deadlocked as drugs ravage Snohomish County, rest of state, Woman shot in West Seattle, hours after 2 killed on Capitol Hill, Oregon tells a cautionary tale about drugs, but we're not listening, squelched by Interior, under the Trump administration, in 2020, North Cascades Ecosystem Grizzly Bear Environmental Impact Statement, nonessential experimental population designation. The narrative about Cascades grizzly bear recovery will take decades to unfold. The idea of reintroducing grizzlies to the region has been proposed before. of Fish and Wildlife, is to take bears either from British Columbia or northwest Montana and introduce them into the Northern Cascades at the rate of 3 to 7 bears per year. This is balancing on a pinhead. Four virtual public meetings will be held to gather . CORRECTION (Nov. 11, 2022, 11:30 a.m. Fish & Wildlife Service announced Thursday they have restarted the on-again, off-again process to reintroduce grizzlies to North Cascades National Park. An estimated 60,000 grizzly bears inhabit North America, half of them in Alaska. We know how to move bears successfully, and we know how to live with them safely, Servheen said in a statement. They belong here, Joe Scott, international program director for Conservation Northwest, said in a statement. Support reintroducing grizzly bears to the North Cascades Four virtual public meetings will be held to gather input on the proposal over the next month. The state Ecology Department says as much as 1,500 gallons of used motor oil spilled Sunday from a tank that failed at a former feed lot near Sunnyside and flowed into Sulphur Creek and the Yakima River. Grizzlies havent been spotted with certainty in the North Cascades since 1996, the National Park Service said in a news release. Their presence is also an important indicator of a healthy ecosystem, as the clean water and level of biodiversity necessary to support their needs also supports a variety of other wildlife. Grizzly bear reintroduction efforts get pushback from Chelan County It is vital that we demonstrate our support for the recovery of this ecologically and culturally significant species. The introduction of grizzly bears into the North Cascades would directly, and negatively, impact the people and the communities I represent, Newhouse said in the statement. John Miles, environmental historian and former board member of North Cascades Institute, The Rewilding Institute (TRI) mission is to explore and share tactics and strategies to advance continental-scale conservation and restoration in North America and beyond. The National Park Service and the U.S. An apex predator, grizzly bears keep prey populations under control, but they also work to disturb and aerate the soil while they dig for roots and spread seeds through their scat. According to the NPS, the new process will restart from the beginning rather than picking up where the last one left off. In 2019, Zinke reversed course and reopened a new public comment period. Alternative C strikes a sound balance to meet the mutual goals of grizzly bear restoration and the needs of the people who depend on the natural areas in the recovery zone. Grizzly Bears (Ursus arctos) are a strongly interactive species, whose digging for tubers, grubs, and rodents help maintain mountain meadows and regulate ground squirrel numbers. Or maybe I should write a screenplay Reintroduce bears to eat liberals? Rewilding the Sky Islands Region of the . In the case of the North Cascades and its once and future Grizzly Bear population, this means the National Park Service, US Fish & Wildlife Service, and other partners in Grizzly recovery should take these important steps: The Rewilding Institute urges all conservation groups who are weighing in on Grizzly Bear recovery in the North Cascades to talk directly with each other and try to find common ground that restores Grizzlies while also upholding Wilderness values. The USFWS has proposed four alternative approaches for grizzly bear restoration, ranging from a No Action approach to an Expedited Restoration approach, with varying degrees of government involvement in the reintroduction of grizzly bears from other regions to the North Cascades. will investigate reintroducing grizzly bears to Washingtons North Cascades, The last verifiable sighting of a grizzly on the U.S. side of the North Cascades was in 1996, one of six USFWS-designated grizzly bear recovery zones, Wyoming Wrestler Jumps on Grizzly Bear to Save His Friend, Backpacker Dies of Apparent Hypothermia in Zion Narrows, Hikers Rejoice: Yosemite is Nixing Reservations Next Year, Zion National Park Just Found Toxic Bacteria on Two of Its Most Popular Hikes. Dukas/Universal Images Group via Getty Images file. Initially, he said, "I was like, 'Oh god, am I going to reintroduce grizzlies and then die at the hands of a bear?'". The National Wildlife Federation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization Fish and Wildlife Service released a document in January describing four ideas for reintroducing grizzly bears to the North Cascades region in Washington. The National Park Service and US Fish and Wildlife Service will investigate reintroducing grizzly bears to Washingtons North Cascades, restarting a process the Trump administration halted seven years ago, the federal government said on Thursday. Today, no more than 10 grizzlies are believed to roam the 10,000-square-mile area. In a news release on Thursday, he criticized the decision to restart it and urged the Biden administration to consider local input. If it only leads to people in those places begging for the bears to be killed, perhaps the runoff from that will lead to hunting opportunities in places that already have grizzlies. Grizzly populations grew over the past 10 years in two areas - the Yellowstone region, with more than 700 bears, and around Glacier National Park in Montana, which is home to more than 1,000. 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We had no idea this announcement today was going to be made, said Andrea Zaccardi, the carnivore conservation legal director for the Center for Biological Diversity. The National Park Service and U.S. Is the Return of the Wolf, Wolverine, and Grizzly Bear to Oregon and California Biologically Feasible? The lawsuit continues. This could be fun. John Davis, TRI Executive Director These massive bears once roamed across much of western North America, from central New Mexico up to the Arctic Ocean, but due to habitat loss and over hunting, their population fell precipitously in the twentieth century. ", Inman's parents live at the edge of the North Cascades, where he said he hikes and runs fairly often - which, yes, means he's advocating to share his recreational space with those predators. And they eat a lot of plants, including berries when they're in season. It's estimated there are currently less than 20 grizzlies in the state, though a female was fitted with a radio collar and released last year, along with her three cubs, according to the Washington DFW. Another Motive for Reintroducing Grizzlies in Washington? | Outdoor Life Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. "I might need to do some course correcting.". Since then, the species has repopulated 25 to 33 per cent of its historic range in Canada. A grizzly bear and cub in Yellowstone National Park. The Forest Service Wants to Hear From You. The player who eats the most babies wins. When motorized vehicles are deemed essential to recovery, limit their use as much as feasible to wildlands outside of designated Wilderness. Can we do this in every state? Predators roam central Oregon, but chances of attack are slim We have wolvs coming in that's going to make a dent. According to the recovery goals established in the USFWS' Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan, the grizzly populations in the Greater Yellowstone and Northern Continental Divide Ecosystems are both fully recovered. The federal government is seeking public input on its plan to reintroduce the bears into the state, where they once numbered in the thousands.