[iron]

Public Invited to Open Houses on Proposed Alternatives for Grizzly Bear Restoration in North Cascades Ecosystem Public comment period open through March 14, 2017 SEDRO WOOLLEY, Wash. – The National Park Service (NPS) and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) invite the public to participate in a series of informational open houses regarding the proposed alternatives for the restoration of grizzly bears to the North Cascades Ecosystem. The alternatives are described in the draft Grizzly Bear Restoration Plan/Environmental Impact Statement (draft EIS), released today by the two agencies. The meetings are one part of the public’s opportunity to comment on the draft EIS. The purpose of the EIS is to determine what actions, if any, should be taken to restore the grizzly bear to the North Cascades Ecosystem. Although there are six populations of grizzly bears in North America, the last-known siting of grizzlies in the United States portion of the North Cascades Ecosystem is 1996. The goal of the public comment period is to gather comments regarding the draft EIS; public comments received on the draft EIS will be evaluated and considered in the identification of the preferred alternative, which will be published in the Final EIS. The full draft EIS is available at http://parkplanning.nps.gov/grizzlydeis. The alternatives analyzed in this draft EIS include a “no-action” alternative, plus three action alternatives that would seek to restore a reproducing population of approximately 200 bears through the capture and release of grizzly bears into the North Cascades Ecosystem. The alternatives were developed by a planning team with input from the public, local, state and federal agencies, and the scientific community. In addition to the open houses, the public also is invited to submit written comments at http://parkplanning.nps.gov/grizzlydeis. Comments may also be submitted through March 14, 2017 via regular mail or hand delivery at: Superintendent’s Office, North Cascades National Park Service Complex, 810 State Route 20, Sedro Woolley, WA 98284 In order to maximize opportunities for public input, webinars are scheduled for Tuesday, February 14 from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Pacific Time and Sunday, February 26 from 5 p.m.-7 p.m. Pacific Time. For more information about the open houses and to register for the webinars, visit: http://parkplanning.nps.gov/grizzlydeis and click on the “Meetings” link. The public open houses will be held from 6-8 p.m. at the following locations: Cle Elum – February 13 at the Putnam Centennial Center Cashmere – February 14 at the Riverside Center Winthrop – February 15 at the Red Barn Omak – February 16 at the Annex Facility at Okanogan County Fairgrounds Bellingham – February 21 at the Bellingham Technical College Darrington – February 22 at the Darrington Community Center Sultan – February 23 at the Sultan High School Renton – February 24 at the Renton Community Center The grizzly bear was listed as a threatened species in the contiguous United States in 1975. The species was listed as endangered by the state of Washington in 1980. The North Cascades Ecosystem encompasses 9,800 square miles in the United States and another 3,800 square miles in British Columbia, Canada. The United States portion of the ecosystem includes North Cascades National Park, Ross Lake National Recreation Area, Lake Chelan National Recreation Area, Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, and Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. The U.S. Forest Service and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife are cooperating agencies on the EIS. Funding for the EIS is provided by the NPS. The U.S. Forest Service, FWS and other cooperating agencies and partners will provide technical support throughout. For more information on grizzly bear recovery, visit http://bit.ly/NCEgrizzly or www.nps.gov/noca/grizzly.htm.

[zephyr]

Thanks, iron for posting this. Just saw it in the Seattle Times. Very troubling news for hikers, backpackers and trail runners among other users--especially when you look at the mapped areas of re-introduction. Here is the page that lists the documents. This one is 11 MB and takes a little while to load--FWS Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan.pdf (see preceding link). Can someone grab a screen shot of the two main areas of re-introduction in Washington and post it here? 1) Figure 11, page 119 (Selkirk Recovery Zone--NE Washington) and 2) Figure 13, page 139 (North Cascades Recovery Zone--which includes all the Pasayten Wilderness, Glacier Peak Wilderness and the entire Alpine Lakes Wilderness) Like someone said in earlier discussions, this zone goes all the way to I-90. Thanks, ~z

[Sir-Hikes-A-Lot]

Alternative A (No Action) Under alternative A (no action), existing management practices would be followed, and no new management actions would be implemented beyond those available at the outset of the grizzly bear restoration planning process. Management actions would be focused on improved sanitation, poaching control, motorized access management, outreach, and educational programs to provide information about grizzly bears and grizzly bear recovery to the public, and research and monitoring to determine grizzly bear presence, distribution, habitat, and home ranges. Based on the Revised Code of Washington 77.12.035, described in chapter 1, alternative A is the only alternative being evaluated in detail that would allow for the full participation by the state of Washington. Elements Common to All Action Alternatives All of the action alternatives would seek to restore a self-sustaining population of at least 200 bears through the capture and release of grizzly bears into the NCE. Each of the action alternatives would involve a similar approach to the capture, transport, and release of grizzly bears; enhanced public education and outreach; guidelines for management actions to respond to human-grizzly bear conflicts; and a similar approach for the replacement or additional releases of grizzly bears, access management, and habitat management. Alternative B—Ecosystem Evaluation Restoration Under alternative B, “Ecosystem Evaluation Restoration,” the NPS and FWS would implement an ecosystem evaluation approach to grizzly bear restoration, wherein a total of up to 10 grizzly bears would be captured from source populations in northwestern Montana and/or south-central British Columbia and released at a single remote site on NPS or U.S. Forest Service (USFS) lands in the NCE over two consecutive summers. Grizzly bears that would be considered appropriate candidates for capture and release would be typically independent subadults between 2 and 5 years of age that had not yet reproduced and had exhibited no history of human conflict. The target sex ratio for initial releases would be approximately 60% to 80% female and 20% to 40% male. No additional releases of grizzly bears would occur for 2 years following the initial releases, except for the replacement of grizzly bears lost due to mortality, emigration, or removal due to human conflict. Instead, the grizzly bears released during the first 2 years (years 1 and 2) would be monitored for an additional 2 years (years 3 and 4) for habitat use and instances of human conflict. In the fourth year, a decision would be made regarding how management would proceed during subsequent releases. Depending on the results of the monitoring information, the NPS and FWS may choose to repeat the initial release, where an additional 10 bears would be released at a single site over 2 years followed by 2 additional years of monitoring. Alternatively, the NPS and FWScould decide to transition to “Alternative C—Incremental Restoration.” Alternative B is expected to achieve the restoration goal of approximately 200 grizzly bears within 60 to 100 years. Alternative C—Incremental Restoration Under alternative C, “Incremental Restoration,” the NPS and FWS would release approximately 5 to 7 grizzly bears into the NCE each year over roughly 5 to 10 years, with a goal of establishing an initial population of 25 grizzly bears. Grizzly bears would be released at multiple remote sites on NPS and USFS lands, which would be located in close proximity to one another to facilitate interaction and breeding among released grizzly bears. Grizzly bears released into the U.S. portion of the NCE under alternative C would be selected based on the same criteria for sex/age class, reproductive status, and no history of human conflict described under alternative B. After the initial population goal of 25 grizzly bears has been reached, additional bears would likely be released into the ecosystem over time to address mortality, population and demographic trends, genetic limitations, distribution, or to adjust the population’s sex ratio to improve reproductive success. Grizzly bears could be removed or relocated based on conflicts with humans. Subsequent release sites would continue to be evaluated and selected based on longer-term monitoring of grizzly bear habitat use and movements. Release sites may be removed from use based on factors such as mortality, out-migration, or human-bear conflict. Alternative C is expected to result in the achievement of the restoration goal of approximately 200 grizzly bears within 60 to 100 years. Alternative D—Expedited Restoration Under alternative D, “Expedited Restoration,” the NPS and FWS would seek to expedite grizzly bear restoration by releasing additional grizzly bears into the NCE over time until the restoration goal is reached. This alternative would not limit the population goal for the initial restoration phase to 25 animals and would not set a limit for the number of grizzly bears released into the NCE. Rather, the number of suitable grizzly bears captured in a given year would be released. It is anticipated that the logistics and capacity of management agencies to carry out capture and release would constrain the ability to release a large number of grizzly bears in any single year under this alternative (the actual number of grizzly bears to be released per year would likely be 5 to 7). Capture and release efforts would continue each year as necessary until a combination of release efforts and reproduction results in a population of approximately 200 grizzly bears on the landscape. Criteria for age and sex ratios for grizzly bears captured and released under alternative D would be less restrictive than under alternatives B and C. Grizzly bears up to 10 years old would be targeted for capture and release, and the sex ratio could be as many as 1 male for every 2 females. Similar to alternative C, grizzly bears would be released at multiple remote sites on NPS and USFS land based on habitat criteria. Once the restoration goal under alternative D is achieved, subsequent releases would be unlikely. However, grizzly bears would be monitored for genetic diversity and if necessary additional grizzly bears may be added over time. Alternative D is expected to result in the achievement of the restoration goal of approximately 200 grizzly bears within roughly 25 years.

[Sir-Hikes-A-Lot]

Is this what you mean, zephyr?

Here's a map showing the potential staging and release areas in the NCE:

NCE Griz Map pic 1

[Stefan]

I wonder what areas they will shut down. Vague in the Q&A for trails and roads. Not specific. I understand it is too early...but still curious.

[zephyr]

[cdestroyer]

"the last-known siting of grizzlies in the United States portion of the North Cascades Ecosystem is 1996" I wonder who ever made this statement if they spent time searching for grizzly bears in the area of the pasayten. I saw a young grizzly bear near chancellor campground in the early 80's. There is an old cabin I know as the "henderson cabin" just down stream from the campground. I have spent many a night there. Just a few feet downstream the berries were plump and juicy. This young griz was in the brush eating when I spooked him, he came up on the trail took one look at me (and I at him) and he turned and ran down stream, then up the side of the hill. I beat feet down the trail until well past mill creek. Had I known that someone would want to know I had seen a grizzly I would have notified them...But who would that be I wonder.

[cartman]

Would someone explain what necessary niche a very large and potentially dangerous carnivore would fill in the North Cascades? And why the taxpayer should be footing the bill for it, and the Forest Service spending time and already scarce (and sure to become more scarce) funds on what seems to be an unnecessary program? Just because they were once there does not mean they need to be reintroduced. And to defuse the argument before it starts, don't compare grizzly reintroduction to the reintroduction of wolves. There is no comparison. A wolf doesn't weigh 500+ lbs, isn't going to possibly charge if surprised, and isn't going to be encountered roaming around with a newly born little one to defend.

[puzzlr]

I know very little about grizzlies other than my encounters in Alaska. But grizzly reintroduction was also a huge issue in the 90s. Pack & Paddle magazine included many articles and letters from outdoor users on both sides. That may have been the first round of reintroduction. Cartman, I suspect the importance of the grizzly is its role as an apex predator. I won't reword that Wikipedia article, but the presence or absence has significant and sometimes surprising effects all the way down the food chain.

[Kim Brown]

[Bernardo]

I hope this is studied further and much more extensively before any decisions are made. Kim, what does it mean to say it is out of their hands? Surely, there is room for interpretation.

[Bedivere]

[selfishlazyhikeraccustomedtonotworryingaboutsuchthingsinthecascades] No thanks. [/selfishlazyhikeraccustomedtonotworryingaboutsuchthingsinthecascades]

[hikersarenumber1]

It's pretty funny to see people's uneven risk tolerances... Would you rather die of a grizxly bear attack or an avalanche? With equal exposure, I'm pretty sure the avy is most likely to get you.

[RumiDude]

[timberghost]

Grizzlies is a whole different thing than fishers. I personally don't want to see a restoration and/or reintroduction. The same issue happened in the Bob Marshall Wilderness and I don't think we want that scenario replicated.