In April, 2024, the National Park Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced that they will reintroduce grizzly bears to the North Cascades of Washington! This momentous decision means that grizzlies will soon resume their vital role as ecological engineers and cultural icons, making the wild North Cascades Ecosystem even wilder.

In places where grizzly bears thrive, so do the other wildlife, plants, and people with whom they share the land. Our Living Northwest program joins Washingtonians in celebrating the return of grizzly bears to the North Cascades. Woodland Park Zoo endorses a scientific, community-engaged process for restoring grizzlies to this ecosystem. Together, we can make grizzly bear recovery happen on the ground—for the grizzlies, and for ourselves.

Because it takes a village to raise a population of bears, the zoo is a member of Friends of the North Cascades Grizzly Bear. This broad coalition was formed in 2015, and represents millions of members and grizzly bear supporters. For years, Woodland Park Zoo has advocated the efficient and effective restoration of grizzlies, and a careful planning process that will allow people and grizzlies to safely coexist in perpetuity.

 

Thanks to your support, grizzly bears can return home to the North Cascades

Decades ago, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service designated the North Cascades region as 1 of 6 ecosystems in the lower 48 states where grizzly bears should be restored—and the only place outside of the Rocky Mountains. Conservation scientists have determined that we need to carefully reintroduce grizzlies in order for the population to recover. Now is the time!

In March 2024, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Park Service released a final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) that evaluates options to restore grizzly bears to the North Cascades Ecosystem. The agencies identified a preferred alternative (Alternative C), under which 3 to 7 grizzlies will be translocated from healthy source populations each year until an initial population of 25 is established. The agencies also recommended a 10(j) rule under the Endangered Species Act that will give wildlife managers additional flexibility to responsibly manage bears.

Public feedback was key to the development of the final EIS. During the 45-day public comment period for the draft EIS, released in the fall of 2023, the agencies received over 12,000 public comments. Hundreds of individuals also provided input at public meetings across the region.

We are grateful to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Park Service for carefully examining the science and listening to the will of the public to develop a long-term plan so that people and grizzlies can coexist here in perpetuity.

See the National Park’s Service’s website to view the final EIS.

 

 

It will take many years—perhaps a century or more—before a restored grizzly population in the North Cascades reaches its natural capacity. Models suggest this habitat can ultimately support at least 200 grizzlies. Grizzlies reproduce slowly and are generally shy of humans. But now is a good time be thinking about coexistence.

We know from locations like the Rockies and Alaska that people can safely hike and coexist with grizzly bears. Even in Yellowstone National Park, which is much smaller than the North Cascades Ecosystem, hosts millions of visitors each year, and is home to at least 150 grizzlies, bear encounters and especially attacks are exceedingly rare.

The EIS process ensures that human-bear safety and bear awareness will be top priorities during the grizzly bear recovery process. Washingtonians already know how to coexist with black bears and other wildlife, and are proud to live in one of the wildest states in the country.

Let’s celebrate this rare opportunity to help make Washington the next Grizzly Bear State!

 

Grizzlies aren’t just symbols of wildness; these magnificent bears help keep the landscape healthy and wild. As omnivores, most of their diet consists of roots, berries and other plants, whose seeds are distributed through their droppings. Grizzly bears are also prolific diggers in their search for bulbs and burrowing small mammals, thereby aerating the soil and maintaining vibrant meadows.

 

Like many of us, grizzlies are opportunistic eaters—they make the most of what nature brings their way. In spring, they scavenge for winter-killed animals, and they won’t turn up their noses at newborn deer and elk. Termites, ants, and other insects also rank high on the grizzly’s menu.

Scientific models show that the North Cascades can provide more than enough food and space for a self-sustaining grizzly bear population. But existing grizzly populations in the Rocky Mountains and British Columbia are too far away, and the Cascades are too isolated by human development, to realistically enable bears to re-establish a population here on their own. That’s why we need a science-based blueprint to return grizzly bears to the North Cascades.

(Click to expand)