Chelan County hosts public meeting on grizzly bear reintroduction in North Cascades

LEAVENWORTH—Chelan County Commissioner Shon Smith hosted a public meeting on Sept. 19 in Leavenworth to discuss the reintroduction of grizzly bears to the North Cascades. The meeting featured experts on grizzly bear recovery and conflict prevention.

National Park Service (NPS) and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) announced the decision to actively restore a population of grizzly bears in the North Cascades ecosystem (NCE) on Apr. 25 of this year. 

Grizzly bears were a key part of the NCE for thousands of years, keeping other wildlife populations in balance and distributing native plant seeds within and across elevations, according to NPS. They are also culturally significant to some Tribes and First Nations. Grizzly populations declined primarily due to humans killing them, with the last confirmed grizzly sighting in NCE in 1996.

Agencies plan to establish an initial population of 25 bears in NCE by translocating between three to seven grizzly bears per year for a period of five to 10 years. NCE is about 9,800 square miles in size, larger than the size of New Jersey.

“That initial population of 25 bears could be expected to reach about 200 within a century, 60 to 100 years. And those bears would come from areas with what we call similar food economies, areas with similar food sources for grizzly bears that we might find in the North Cascades,” said Andrew LaValle, FWS Public Affairs Officer.

Selected grizzly bears would be between two and five years of age, have not yet reproduced, have no history of human conflict, and would likely come from Northern Continental Divide, Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, or interior British Columbia. 

The bears would be released in areas that are largely roadless, adequately distanced from visitor use, and have a suitable helicopter landing site within the Stephen Mather, Pasayten, and Glacier Peak Wilderness Areas.

During the meeting, bear-conflict expert Trina Jo Bradley spoke of her many grizzly encounters living on a ranch in the Northern Continental Divide ecosystem. She recommended utilizing electric fencing, range riding, carcass management, and livestock guardian dogs for those with ranches and farms. However, Bradley predicted sanitation and attraction containment, such as securing home garbage bins and camping food, would be the most applicable tool to the Leavenworth area.

She also recommended having awareness in yards and on trails, keeping a gun or bear spray on hand, having dogs on leashes, and making sure kids stay in sight and know the rules.

“Living with grizzly bears is a challenge, but it can be done with the right tools in place. Keep in mind that not all grizzly bears are bad. Some of them live their entire lives without getting into any trouble. Some of them live their entire lives without even being seen by a human. But the most important part is to have the right management practices in place for when those conflicts do occur….The 10(j) rule will help immensely with that,” said Bradley.

The 10(j) rule allows FWS or another agency to relocate a grizzly to prevent conflict or habituation, and allows FWS to authorize an individual to kill a grizzly if livestock depredation has been confirmed or if the bear is determined to be a demonstrable ongoing threat. Any individual may also injure or kill a grizzly bear in the act of attacking livestock or working dogs on private land under certain conditions.

“Grizzly bears do move, so you know that we may put them north, just south of the Canadian border, it is possible they, over the years, migrate down, or even within a summer. So that's part of why the agency [put] together this 10(j) rule. They wanted it to be absolutely a kitchen sink, the maximum amount of flexibility in terms of managing these bears,” said LaValle to Ward Media.

The Leavenworth and Plain area are outside of the southern boundary of the Glacier Peak Wilderness recovery zone area. According to LaValle, it will be hard to predict where the bears will travel after relocating, but the chances of someone seeing one in the next few years to decades is predictably low. However, residents expressed concerns that bears would easily find their way through drainages such as the White River and Chiwawa River.

“They're going to come right down the drainage of the White River in the Little Wenatchee and find trash and dead fish. It is a terrible idea to introduce these things,” said Shugart Flats resident Chris Gendreau. “I do not want a grizzly bear walking in my backyard. I've seen them…I don't want them near me.”

Commissioners Tiffany Gering and Kevin Overbay hosted similar meetings in Chelan and Wenatchee prior to Leavenworth. More information about the recovery plan can be found at www.nps.gov/noca/grizzly.htm.

Taylor Caldwell: 509-433-7276 or taylor@ward.media