Submit a comment for grizzly bear restoration!
Conservation Northwest / Mar 13, 2017 / Grizzly Bears
Please submit a comment today voicing your support for grizzly bear restoration in the North Cascades through Alternative C: Incremental Restoration. Suggested comments are available below.
I am writing to voice my support for restoring a healthy population of grizzly bears to the North Cascades, their home for thousands of years. Specifically, I support Alternative C: Incremental Restoration, with additional bear transplants as needed to ensure sustained population growth. Alternative C strikes a sound balance to meet the mutual goals of grizzly bear recovery and the needs of people. I believe grizzly bears will benefit our region’s ecosystems and economies alike, and preserve true wildness for future generations to cherish and enjoy. During your scoping period and in recent public polling, broad support has been documented for grizzly bear restoration. Please do the right thing and bring back this native species through the strategy laid out in Alternative C. Doing so will restore an important piece of our ecosystem, regional culture, and natural heritage.
March 13 Update: The comment period has been extended through April 28, 2017!
Looking to learn more? Watch our new short film Time for the Grizzly? produced by award-winning filmmaker and TV host Chris Morgan
More information and detailed comments:
The National Park Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have released a draft Environmental Impact Statement detailing four options regarding grizzly bear recovery in the North Cascades.
Three of the proposed alternatives lay out plans to augment the struggling North Cascades grizzly bear population under varying timelines, but one is a ‘no-action’ alternative. The science is clear: no action means grizzly bears will go locally extinct in the North Cascades. We cannot let this happen. Together, we need to show that thousands of individuals, communities, organizations and businesses support the return of a functioning grizzly bear population in the North Cascades through active restoration efforts.
Submit a comment in favor of Alternative C: Incremental Restoration today and urge the public agencies to move forward with grizzly bear restoration in the North Cascades!
Specifically, we ask that you support Alternative C. Under Alternative C, expert wildlife scientists would slowly release grizzly bears into remote areas of North Cascades National Park and other nearby public lands over five to ten years, with an initial goal of 25 bears.
To ensure the success of Alternative C, we support adding bears as needed to maintain genetic diversity and a positive population growth rate, while also relying on bear reproduction to make progress towards grizzly recovery over the course of 60-100 years. We believe this strategy uses best science practices to restore a healthy population of grizzly bears to the North Cascades.
Alternative C strikes a sound balance to meet the mutual goals of grizzly bear recovery and the needs of people. Adding bears over time to sustain population growth ensures progress towards recovery.
Below is a sample letter for you to use as a template, but we encourage you to customize your comments to make them more impactful!
Detailed suggested comments on North Cascades grizzly bears – Comments can be copied and pasted into the comment form here. Please customize your comments!
Dear Superintendent Taylor-Goodrich and Supervisor Rickerson:
I am writing to voice my support for restoring a healthy population of grizzly bears to the North Cascades, their home for thousands of years. Wherever grizzlies thrive, so does wildness, clean water, and abundant native fish and wildlife.
Specifically, I support Alternative C: Incremental Restoration, with some minor enhancements, and your proposal to introduce grizzly bears into remote areas of the North Cascades every year with the goal of first establishing an initial population of 25 bears over a five- to ten-year span. The agencies would then continue to release bears to maintain population growth over a timeframe of 60-100 years or until a 200-bear population is reached.
It is time to act to save the North Cascades grizzly! The North Cascades Ecosystem, anchored by North Cascades National Park, contains one of the largest areas of wild and protected land in the lower 48 states. An extraordinary piece of our shared natural heritage, it’s important we pass it on, with all its native wildlife, for the benefit of future generations.
With only a few grizzly bears remaining today, an important part of this ecosystem and a culturally significant animal for regional indigenous people is in danger of disappearing forever. I support recovering the North Cascades grizzly bear population through best science and community involvement because it will help keep the Northwest a natural, beautiful and sustainable place in which to live, work and play.
Alternative C recommends the appropriate amount of time needed for these slow reproducers to establish themselves in the North Cascades, and promotes a strong reintroduction plan in order to reach optimal population numbers for genetic diversity and long-term health. To ensure the success of Alternative C, I propose that additional bears be added as needed to ensure positive population growth, while also relying on bear reproduction to make progress towards grizzly recovery over the course of 60-100 years. Alternative C uses best science practices in order to restore a healthy population of grizzly bears to the North Cascades.
Alternative C strikes a sound balance to meet the mutual goals of grizzly bear recovery and the needs of people. Adding bears over time to sustain population growth ensures progress towards recovery. Biologists in northwest Montana have been using similar strategies successfully for over 30 years in order to help their own grizzly bear populations recover; this effort has been guided by significant community and stakeholder input.
The return of grizzly bears to Washington will make the North Cascades Ecosystem one of the wildest areas in America. Grizzlies will likely be a draw for visitors to go to North Cascades National Park, as it has been for Yellowstone National Park and other areas where big wildlife abounds; this would increase outdoor tourism and bolster local businesses. Grizzly bears will benefit our state’s ecosystems and economies alike, and preserve true wildness for future generations to cherish and enjoy.
During your scoping period and in recent public polling, broad support has been documented for grizzly bear restoration in Washington. Please do the right thing and bring back this native species to our state through the strategy laid out in Alternative C with additional bear transplants as needed to ensure genetic diversity and sustain population growth. Doing so will restore an important piece of our ecosystem, regional culture, and natural heritage.
Sincerely,