Plan offered for bringing grizzlies to Washington

SEATTLE — Grizzly bears once roamed the rugged landscape of the North Cascades in Washington state but few have been sighted in recent decades.

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 in and around North Cascades National Park.

Three of the alternatives seek to restore a population of about 200 bears, by relocating animals and letting them breed. The options differ in the number of bruins initially released and the time expected to get to that goal, ranging from 25 years for the expedited option to 60 to 100 years for the other two alternatives.

The National Park Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service did not pick a preferred alternative. Instead they’re seeking input over the next several weeks on what steps they should take to restore grizzly bears to their natural range.

The draft plan comes as the federal government is deciding whether to lift protections for more than 700 grizzly bears in and around Yellowstone National Park. Officials had planned to finalize by the end of 2016 a proposal to turn management of grizzlies over to Idaho, Montana and Wyoming officials and allow limited hunting, but a deluge of opposition is tying up a decision.

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.

Supporters say the shy, massive creatures — a symbol of true wilderness — should be brought back. They say the population won’t recover without help and their return would increase the biodiversity of the ecosystem.

“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.

Others say the animals should recover naturally, while some worry about potential increased dangers to recreationists and livestock and opposed the move over potential impacts to communities, ranchers, farmers and others.

Some state lawmakers have opposed moving grizzly bears into Washington, telling the federal agencies in 2015 that the idea contradicts state law stating the bears “shall not be transplanted or introduced into the state.”

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. They’ll be radio-collared and monitored.