Bring grizzlies back to the North Cascades

It’s a monumental moment for grizzly bears — and for those of us who love them. Or those who don’t. Because it’s time to decide if they have a future in Washington’s North Cascades. It’s a place grizzlies called home for 20,000 years until they were trapped and hunted to near extinction. But the National Park Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service now have a plan that could bring grizzly bears back to these mountains. And I’m all for it. 

As an ecologist and bear expert, I’ve spent thousands of hours around these magnificent animals. From the high Arctic to the lush tropics, bears have been the focus of my life’s work for over 30 years. Of the eight bear species, the grizzly inspires me the most.

In the 1990s, I captured, then tracked grizzlies on foot for over 2,000 miles for research in the Canadian Rockies. It changed the very fabric of who I am. Grizzlies taught me to be more thoughtful, grounded, and aware. Searching for a brown hair trapped in the bark of a tree, or a blueberry along the trail that had fallen from the mouth of a grazing grizzly, made me more observant. I only saw five of our radio-collared bears over those two years, but knowing they were there was enough. 

When I set foot in grizzly country, my heart rate quickens, and I feel connected to the earth. It’s a primal sense that society needs before we lose our ancient connection with nature to the technological brain fuzz of AI and smartphones.

This place is wild country, already home to wolves, mountain lions, lynx, and black bears. It’s natural to wonder how grizzly bears could affect safety in the backcountry. Grizzly bears are wild animals trying to survive, but they’d rather avoid you than look for a fight. I’ve had countless peaceful encounters with grizzlies over the last 30 years, but those stories don’t make the headlines. 

But this is about far more than bears. For me, grizzlies have always been a unifier for big, bold, beautiful ideas. At a time when we need to protect more wild spaces for our own resilience and survival, bears are one of our very best allies. What’s good for bears is good for us. Managing land for bears means protecting large, intact, functioning landscapes, clean water, fresh air, and healthy ecosystems — a list we can’t take for granted these days.

Now, we have a golden opportunity to restore one of the last remaining pieces of the megafauna puzzle. The North Cascades Grizzly Bear Recovery Area is nearly 10,000 square miles in size, and 97% of the U.S. portion of the North Cascades ecosystem is public land. The remarkable thing is that it’s already being managed for grizzly bears. The only thing missing is the bears.

Grizzlies can’t come back without our help. The proposed plan from NPS and USFWS includes releasing a handful of bears, carefully selected for safety and success, deep in the wilderness each year, until establishing an initial population of 25 bears. It’s no rushed decision — it’s been well thought out by scientists, wildlife managers, tribal representatives, and community leaders for decades. Intensive community outreach, like the Grizzly Bear Outreach Project I co-founded in 2001, has engaged thousands of local people in the recovery zone. 

A new national poll from the National Parks Conservation Association found that 85% of Americans across the political spectrum support restoring grizzlies to their historic habitat in the North Cascades. In 2017, during a previous public comment period, the Park Service received a whopping 126,000 thousand comments — and 87% were in favor of restoring the great bear. And polls show that Washingtonians agreed, with 8 out of 10 state voters in support.

An extraordinary opportunity lies right in front of us. It’s a chance to look beyond the things that separate us to something we can all agree on: a future that embraces wildlife, and the natural world, and everything it brings us. The Evergreen State has a chance to proudly lead as we rewild our extraordinary places. And our care for the great bear is a step toward a truly Wild West once again.