The federal government is once again making plans to reintroduce grizzly bears to Washington’s North Cascade Range. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Park Service announced in November that they would be initiating an Environmental Impact Statement to begin looking at options for restoring a grizzly population in the Pacific Northwest. They plan to do this by relocating bears from British Columbia and the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem in Northwest Montana.
“This is a first step toward bringing balance back to the ecosystem and restoring a piece of the Pacific Northwest’s natural and cultural heritage,” Don Striker, the superintendent of North Cascades National Park, said in a news release. “With the public’s help, we will evaluate a list of options to determine the best path forward.”
Not surprisingly, the public’s reaction to this announcement has been mixed. Some proponents have drawn comparisons between the North Cascades