Plan offers 4 options for restoring grizzlies to Washington
Federal officials want to restore the population and on Thursday released a draft plan with four options, ranging from taking no action to varying efforts to capture bears from other locations and transplant them to 9,800 square miles of mostly public land surrounding North Cascades National Park.
In Washington state, the grizzly plan has stoked intense debate as federal officials sought input in 2015 as it developed the draft environmental impact statement released Thursday.
"Returning this magnificent animal to the North Cascades is a rare opportunity to restore our natural heritage," said Joe Scott of the nonprofit Conservation Northwest, one of several groups that cheered the plan's release.
Federal officials note that grizzly bears tend to avoid areas of human activity, and the animals would be relocated in remote areas, away from grazing allotments.
The bears are at risk of local extinction, and recovering them would enhance the population's survival, restore the animal as part of the area's cultural heritage and provide people the chance to experience the animals in their native habitat, federal officials say.
The North Cascades ecosystem offers some of the best habitat to recover the animals, and a federal 1997 plan designated the area as one of five grizzly bear recovery zones.