The mission of the Wenatchee Naturalist program is to cultivate awareness, understanding, and stewardship of the Wenatchee River region by developing an active corps of well-informed community volunteers. As the program founder, I need to practice what I preach! After researching the topic of grizzly bear re-introduction, I am using my voice to advocate for enhancing biodiversity as we collectively face a changing climate. I invite readers to join me and engage in respectful civic participation around this complex issue.
It is great news that the National Park Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are restarting the process required to return grizzly bears to the North Cascades. Grizzly bears roamed this area for thousands of years and scientists tell us that grizzlies can thrive again in the North Cascades.
As a mother, biologist, science educator, and frequent visitor to the North Cascades, I am thrilled to know that the 26-year effort to restore the grizzly in the North Cascades may finally be completed. I grew up in western Montana where four generations of my family successfully co-existed with grizzlies, as we lived, worked, and recreated in shared habitat, rarely encountering one another.
The grizzly disappeared from the North Cascades on our watch, with the last verified sighting near Glacier Peak in 1996. Thankfully, biologists can successfully reintroduce grizzlies to areas where they are gone, as proven by their ongoing recovery efforts in the Cabinet-Yaak ecosystem in northwest Montana. Enormous swaths of high-quality habitat in remote areas are the key to success, and we have plenty in the North Cascades. The designated recovery zone covers more than 9,500 square miles and centers on the North Cascades National Park and surrounding public lands, including the Glacier Peak, Pasayten, and Sawtooth wilderness areas. Leavenworth biologist Bill Gaines has documented that this vast area has a diversity of habitats with at least 100 plant species for this apex-omnivore to eat.
The restart of the grizzly restoration plan gives me hope that my husband and I, and our children and grandchildren will have the opportunity to see grizzlies in the North Cascades. And a majority of Washington citizens share that hope. Public outreach conducted by the National Park Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, has shown overwhelming support for restoring grizzlies in the North Cascades. Of 143,000 comments received during multiple public outreach processes, nearly 130,000 supported grizzly restoration.
So, let’s do the right thing—let’s bring back the grizzly to its home in the North Cascades. It is good for the ecosystem, good for other species, and good for people.
How can an individual learn more? Here is a short list of resources:
Read the press release announcement:, the Biden Administration just relaunched the process to determine how to restore grizzly bears to the North Cascades Ecosystem (NCE)
Read this article in the Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/11/12/grizzly-bears-washington-cascades-restoration/
Read this editorial in the Seattle Times: https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/support-reintroducing-grizzly-bears-to-the-north-cascades/
Read this Letter to the Editor in the Methow Valley News: https://methowvalleynews.com/2022/11/16/my-turn-no-need-to-fear-grizzly-recovery-in-north-cascades/
Visit the website for the non-profit National Parks Conservation Association and read the press release: https://www.npca.org/articles/3298-wildlife-advocates-applaud-restart-of-process-to-return-grizzly-bears-to
Watch this short pro-grizzly introduction video, Time for a Grizzly, by Chris Morgan, for Conservation Northwest.
Visit the website, Friends of North Cascades Grizzly Bear.
Read The Grizzly in the Driveway: The Return of Bears to a Crowded American West by Robert Chaney. This well-researched and engaging book is on my bedside table and I am reading it to learn more about long history and complex issues around grizzly bear re-introduction experienced in Montana.
How can a local Washington resident participate?
It is so important for outdoor users like us to speak up in defense of our wildlands and wildlife; and we’re going to get another chance to do just that. I encourage all of you to tell the National Park Service to move forward with efforts to restore grizzly bears to the North Cascades.
The public now has until December 14th to provide comment. There will be four virtual public meetings where the National Park Service and US Fish and Wildlife Service will explain the effort and consider our questions.
How to submit your comments to the Park Service.
Step 1: Follow this link and carefully follow the form instructions.
Step 2: Submit your comments by copying and pasting the sample message below into the “Comments” box on the web form. Please personalize your comments with observations or stories from your experiences at the North Cascades National Park.
Step 3: Once you have completed all of the required fields on the form, click the blue “Submit” button at the bottom of the page.
Generic Comment to Cut & Paste (if you don’t have time to customize):
Thank you for moving forward with the process of restoring grizzly bears to the North Cascades Ecosystem (NCE). As a local resident, I support your efforts to recover this endangered species.
A healthy population of grizzly bears belongs in the NCE, their home for thousands of years. Wherever grizzlies thrive, so does wildness, clean water, and abundant native fish and wildlife. The National Park Service and US Fish and Wildlife Service have an obligation to restore this federally listed species in the few places where that is possible. Failure to act would result in the permanent loss of grizzly bears from the park during our lifetime. Alternatively, the successful restoration will contribute to the overall health and wellbeing of the species across multiple landscapes.
Grizzly restoration is working in other parts of the country and will work here too. Please act quickly and lean on the existing mountain of information your agencies have compiled to inform your final decision. The 2017 EIS outlined multiple viable strategies that were massively popular.
Please reconsider all the past public support and the time-tested strategies that will strike a balance to meet the mutual goals of grizzly bear recovery and people.
How to customize your comment to the Park Service:
- Describe how you use the park, consider the prompts below:
I write to you as someone who…
| -visits North Cascades National Park |
| -camps and hikes in North Cascades National Park |
| -enjoys watching wildlife in North Cascades National Park |
| -Lives near North Cascades National Park |
| -Cares deeply about North Cascades National Park |
| -Drives through North Cascades National Park |
| -Describe your favorite North Cascades Activity |
Tell the agency your reason for supporting grizzly bear recovery, consider the prompts below:
I am writing in support of grizzly restoration in the North Cascades grizzly bear restoration because…
| -Grizzly bears have lived on this landscape for thousands of years, and deserve to be here. |
| -Grizzly bears provide an ecosystem service, spreading seeds and aerating alpine meadows so that wildflowers may grow |
| -Grizzly bears are culturally important to Washingtonians and tribal peoples who’ve lived here for generations. |
| -Grizzly bears are an endangered species that we must actively recover or risk losing. |
| -I want to pass down a wild landscape that includes all native species, including the grizzly. |
| -I hope to see a grizzly bear in the North Cascades one day |
| -There are only a few places left where grizzly bears can exist, and the North Cascades is one of those few protected places. |
How to attend a meeting:
Virtual public meetings will be held at the following times. Use this link to connect to each meeting:
Tuesday, November 15 at 12 pm Pacific Time
Friday, November 18 at 7 pm Pacific Time
Thursday, December 1 at 12 pm Pacific Time
Friday, December 2 at 7 pm Pacific Time
