Cascades grizzly bear in the news

Grizzlies: no longer as elusive as sasquatch

The powerful predators are so rare in Washington - best estimates are fewer than 20 bears - that for years belief in the Cascade grizzly's existence has required a childlike acceptance similar to that reserved by youngsters for Santa Claus.

Forget Sasquatch: The elusive Cascade Grizzly

Biologists have been stalking grizzlies in the Cascades for years... A recently verified photograph has reinvigorated the research team, but the fight for funding to protect the white whale of the Cascades goes on.

The forgotten North Cascades grizzly bear

"The Cascades grizzly bear has always been the red-headed stepchild of the grizzly bear recovery program," says Joe Scott of Conservation Northwest, the leading local advocacy group for grizzly recovery. "It generally gets the hand-me-downs, leftovers and pocket change."

Nature's 'Greatest Comebacks': Eagles, grizzlies lead the way

The list includes the gray wolf and the gray whale. One is a controversial predator that is repopulating the Cascades and the Selkirk Mountains of northeast Washington. Last year... a grizzly was photographed on a ridge in the North Cascades National Park.

A wild week in Washington

Recent grizzly bear and wolf discoveries put the wild back into Washington.

The predators' peak and life below it

Editorial by the NYT: It is now clear that biological diversity increases when top predators are present. The pyramid is healthiest when its peak is still present and when humans aren’t the only top predators around.

Photo confirms first grizzly bear spotting in 15 years

Live Science online reports on hiker Joe Sebille's Cascades grizzly bear photo.

Discoveries encouraging

Letter to the editor of the Seattle Times regarding wolves and grizzlies in Washington State.

First confirmed grizzly sighting in 15 years in North Cascades National Park

“Grizzly bears are considered an umbrella species, since they are wilderness-loving animals with large home ranges and need lots of roadless wild areas to thrive. A number of other animals as well need those kinds of security,” Joe Scott of Conservation Northwest said.

Call of the wild: wolves and grizzlies in Washington state

Editorial from The Times: A new gray wolf pack and a rare grizzly bear, oh my. State biologists said this week that a new pack of gray wolves is living in our state in Kittitas County...

Rare grizzly confirmed in North Cascades

This is the first report vertified by photographic evidence of a grizzly bear in the North Cascades ecosystem since 1996, according to Joe Scott, a conservation director for Conservation Northwest in Bellingham.

Hiker snaps rare bear - a North Cascades grizzly

"We've talked about this for 20 years, and over time the sightings have gotten fewer and fewer to the point where I worried the bears had blinked out altogether on our watch," Mitch Friedman of Conservation Northwest said. "So I'm incredibly relieved. But this is a clarion call on the federal government to fulfill its obligation to recover the species." [Article appeared front page, July 2, Seattle Times]

Grizzly photographed in North Cascades

“It’s a relief after years of waiting...” said Mitch Friedman of Conservation Northwest, which has championed grizzly and wolf recovery.

Bear experts confirm North Cascades bear was grizzly

“We welcome this confirmation that grizzly bears still roam the North Cascades,” said Joe Scott, Conservation Northwest’s director of international conservation. “But it doesn’t change the fact that their foothold in these mountains is as tenuous as that of a climber on crumbling rock.... It will not recover without pro-active strategies to boost the population....”

Rare grizzly bear photographed in North Cascades

"The federal agencies 20 years ago determined that the habitat was exceptional and could support a stable population of bears," said Mitch Friedman, with Conservation Northwest. "But as the years passed without photos, I came to wonder if North Cascades grizzlies were like vampires and wouldn't show up in photos. I'm relieved to know the bears are there."

First verified grizzly bear sighting in the US Cascades in fifteen years

A team of government and independent grizzly bear experts unanimously affirmed that a bear photographed in North Cascades National Park in October 2010 was a grizzly bear.