A public meeting is set for October 7 to discuss a draft plan for recovering grizzly bears in the North Cascades.
A public meeting has been scheduled for early October to discuss a draft plan that aims to help grizzly bears return to the North Cascades of Washington state.
The meeting Oct. 7 on the Draft North Cascades Ecosystem Grizzly Bear Restoration Plan/Environmental Impact Statement is being hosted by the National Park Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Meeting participants will have an opportunity, through a lottery system, to provide up to two minutes of oral comment on the record.
Meeting location: Okanogan County Fairgrounds Agriplex, 175 Rodeo Trail Road, Okanogan, WA 98840
Doors Open: 5 p.m.
Orientation: 5 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Public comment: 5:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
For more than two decades, biologists have been working to recover the North Cascades' grizzlies, a threatened species. And while more than a few reports of grizzly sightings in the ecosystem that stretches north to Canada are received by state and federal officials each year, most turn out to be black bears. The draft EIS outlines a few options for recovering grizzlies in the North Cascades, from releasing five to seven bears a year for five to ten years, releasing up to ten bears in one area for two consecutive summers, to an open-ended approach whereas a number of bears (probably between five and seven) would be released into the ecosystem each year until approximately 200 bears are roaming wild.
"Grizzly bears in the NCE are isolated from other grizzly bear populations. The nearest populations to the east are in the Kettle-Granby Grizzly Bear Population Unit (GBPU) in British Columbia and the Selkirk Mountains in Washington, Idaho, and British Columbia. Grizzly bears inhabit the remote areas east of the Okanogan River and west of the Kettle-Granby Mountains, but the very limited number of detections indicate that the populations are probably limited to a very small number of animals," the draft document notes.
"Few confirmed sightings of grizzly bears have been made in recent decades in the NCE on either side of the international border. The most recent confirmed observation within the U.S. portion of the NCE was in 1996, south of Glacier Peak," the draft explains. "The only direct evidence of reproduction during the past 25 years was a confirmed observation of a female and cub on upper Lake Chelan in 1991. Because of the small size and isolation of the NCE grizzly bear population, it is believed to be at significant risk of eventual extirpation. Biological consensus is that grizzly bears in the NCE would have difficulty recovering on their own and need some form of human intervention to achieve reproduction and eventual recovery."
The draft EIS is currently open for comment through October 24. The public is invited to view the draft and make comments online at this page. Written comments will be accepted in person at the meeting or by mail to: Superintendent’s Office, North Cascades National Park Service Complex, 810 State Route 20, Sedro Woolley, WA 98284.
Comments provided during the previous public comment period will also be considered. The NPS and USFWS will consider all additional comments received or postmarked no later than October 24, 2019.
Comments will not be accepted by fax, email, or any other way than those specified above. Bulk comments in any format (hard copy or electronic) submitted on behalf of others will not be accepted. Before including your address, phone number, email address, or other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment—including your personal identifying information—may be made publicly available at any time. While you can ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.
Comments
Hope this can be worked out. Wherever feasible, these beautiful critters deserve to inhabit all of their former range. It's the right thing to do. Thank you to everyone involved!
Very hopeful for this plan.
Very bad idea. Bringing in a dangerous animal where people hike and ride is a very very bad idea.
Can't say this any better than it has already been said: Text from https://www.conservationnw.org/our-work/wildlife/northcascadesgrizzly/
Why Do We Need Grizzly Bears?
Grizzly bears are culturally and spiritually significant to First Nations throughout the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia. Grizzlies are seen as teachers, guides and symbols of strength and wisdom to indigenous peoples. They are a regional icon and a key part of our natural heritage.
Grizzly bears are considered an "umbrella" species, and they play an important role for healthy ecosystems. Habitat that supports grizzly bears also supports hundreds of other plants and animals and human needs, like clean water, healthy forests and quality outdoor opportunities.
Grizzly bears have been part of the Pacific Northwest landscape for thousands of years. We have an ethical and legal obligation to restore this native species. Grizzly bear recovery in the North Cascades is an important part of national efforts to restore endangered animals where suitable habitat still exists.
Introducing grizzlies to the North Cascades of Washington State is not needed. If grizzlies want to be here they will find their own way back. We already hace cougar encroaching into human environments because they are over populated. Leave Mother Nature alone to find the proper balance of our animals.
Obviously, Mother Nature was not left alone in the North Cascades region which resulted in the near exterpation of grizzly bears by humans. The bears are a keystonen species which impacts all other flora and fauna, both by therir presebce and their absence. Removing the bears has had a deleterious impact on the otherwisew rich ecosystem. Reingtroduciung gthe bears will help rebalance the ecosysterm. There was the hue and cry when Yellowstone iontroduced the wolf back into its historical range resulting in a greatly rebalanced ecosystem.
Simply why? Who keeps coming up with the ideas of adding predators to areas where they are not needed.
These comments about 'leaving mother nature alone' or 'the bears will find their way back if they want to' are absolutely hilarious. Let's kill them all and THEN decide to let nature run its course. Unbelieveable.