Federal Agencies Restart Process to Return Grizzlies to North Cascades
MVCC Hires New Deputy Director
November 3, 2022
Engage in the Town of Winthrop’s Shoreline Master Program Updates
December 5, 2022
November 10 The National Park Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are restarting the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) process required to return grizzly bears to the North Cascades Ecosystem. MVCC is in full support of these efforts to return grizzlies back to a section of their native habitat. Due to extensive hunting and trapping in the 19th and 20th century, grizzlies were extirpated from the North Cascades by the 1960s. We now have the opportunity—and the responsibility—to bring them back.
The North Cascades Ecosystem is one of only two grizzly recovery areas without an established population of bears. Due to its isolation from other zones, it is unlikely to be repopulated from natural bear migration. As a vast and diverse ecosystem, the North Cascades provides ideal habitat for the bears. One hundred of the 124 plant species that bears primarily feed on live in the Cascades!
The upcoming EIS process includes opportunities for public input on strategies designed to restore grizzlies. Similar restoration efforts have been conducted successfully and safely in the Cabinet-Yaak ecosystem of Northwest Montana where a sustainable population has been established over the last three decades. Any reintroduction process of grizzlies to the North Cascades will be slow (3-7 bears a year for 5-10 years to build to an initial population of 25 bears) and closely monitored by wildlife biologists. Currently, Washingtonians co-exist alongside 25,000 black bears.
There is strong public approval for re-introducing grizzlies to the North Cascades across our state. When a similar process began in 2015, it received more than 159,000 comments supporting it. Although Representative Newhouse claimed there was no support in Okanogan County, a packed Winthrop Barn event in 2019 full of local residents who were supportive of restoration proved otherwise!
With support from our elected and community leaders, the National Park Service and other agencies, as well as public education and outreach, we are fully capable of co-existing with grizzlies as neighbors. The recovery plan will be responsive to community concerns and will use the model of other successful recoveries in Montana. Whether you are a hiker, hunter, or farmer, there are simple, effective tools to successfully minimize conflicts between grizzlies and people.
MVCC is part of Friends of the North Cascades Grizzly Bear, a coalition of conservation and wildlife organizations who support the grizzly restoration process.
Read Executive Director Jasmine Minbashian’s recent article from our print newsletter: Welcoming Back Grizzlies
