Public comments on a proposal to help recover grizzlies in the North Cascades of Washington are being taken through late October/North Cascades Institute

Whether grizzly bears should be helped to move into the North Cascades in Washington is a question the general public is being asked to comment on.

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.

Back in 2017 National Park Service staff at North Cascades National Park were evaluating public comment previously made on the recovery proposal, but Interior officials told them to stop the work. Then, in March 2018, then-Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke told the agency to resume the work.

“Restoring the grizzly bear to the North Cascades Ecosystem is the American conservation ethic come to life,” Secretary Zinke said at the time. “We are managing the land and the wildlife according to the best science and best practices. The loss of the grizzly bear in the North Cascades would disturb the ecosystem and rob the region of an icon. We are moving forward with plans to restore the bear to the North Cascades, continuing our commitment to conservation and living up to our responsibility as the premier stewards of our public land.”

On Thursday, the Interior Department announced that the Park Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service were reopening the comment period on the Draft North Cascades Grizzly Bear Restoration Plan/Environmental Impact Statement for 90 days, through October 24. The public is invited to view the Draft EIS online at http://parkplanning.nps.gov/grizzlydeis. At this point in time, the agencies have not identified a preferred alternative in the plan.

All comments previously received on the Draft EIS during the public comment period that was open from January 12, 2017 through April 28, 2017 will be considered, Interior added. You can find the plan and comment on it at this site.

The draft EIS was originally released in early 2017, and has generated more than 126,000 public comments. The federal agencies led six public scoping meetings in March 2015, eight public meetings and two webinars in February 2017, and more than 70 additional briefings with tribes, local municipalities, counties, district congressional staff, and other stakeholders since this process began.

“The National Parks Conservation Association welcomes the reopened public comment period as the next step towards the goal of restoring grizzly bears, considered the last missing piece of the ecosystem, to the North Cascades," said Rob Smith, NPCA's Northwest regional director. "Additional opportunities for the public to weigh in on this plan builds on an already thorough scientific analysis and extensive public outreach by the federal agencies. Science confirms grizzly bear restoration is a low risk, high reward opportunity that will both protect the species and guarantee the wild character of the North Cascades for generations to come.”