Federal agencies to restore grizzly bears in Washington’s North Cascades
By Dan Thesman on Friday, April 26th, 2024 in Columbia Basin News Featured Stories More Top Stories
SEDRO-WOOLLEY – The National Park Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Thursday the decision to restore grizzly bears to the North Cascades of Washington, where the animals once roamed. The populations declined primarily due to direct killing by humans.
The bears will be relocated from the Rocky Mountains or interior British Columbia.
The agencies will seek to move three to seven grizzly bears per year for a period of five to 10 years to establish an initial population of 25 bears.
“We are going to once again see grizzly bears on the landscape, restoring an important thread in the fabric of the North Cascades,” Superintendent of North Cascades Natural Park Service Complex Don Striker said.
The portion of the North Cascades the bears will be relocated to is roughly 9,800 square miles in size.
Photo via U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
