Bear Awareness Week
May 14, 2009
May 10-16, 2009, is National Bear Awareness Week. Washington's grizzly bears persist in two places, in the Selkirks in the northeastern corner of Washington and in North Cascades National Park and surrounding national forests.
This young black bear captured on remote camera shows how light in color black bears can be. The big ears broadcast "black bear"; grizzly bears have a hump on the back and much smaller ears. It's Bear Awarness Week in Washington...
May 10-16, 2009, is National Bear Awareness Week. Here in Washington, statewide recognition comes thanks to proclamation by Governor Chris Gregoire.
Washington's 25,000 black bears are part of many people's experiences growing up and visiting the Washington's national forests and parks. Washington grizzly bears are less well known, and few people get to see them, they are so rare.
Washington's grizzly bears persist in two places.
- Small numbers can be seen in the Selkirk Mountains of the Salmo-Priest Wilderness (the only designated wilderness in northeast Washington) in the northeastern corner of the state.
- An estimated 5 to 20 bears grizzly bears live in the high meadows and steep valleys of the North Cascades of north-central Washington.
Last century, US Fish and Wildlife Service produced a recovery plan to augment and protect the North Cascades grizzly bears. An environmental impact statement for the recovery process has awaited support and funding since 1997. It needn't gather dust forever, not if we want grizzly bears in our, and our children's, future.
