Newhouse to Biden Administration: Local Voices Must Be Heard on Grizzly Concerns

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA) released the following statement after the U.S. Department of Interior, National Park Service (NPS), and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced they are once again initiating an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) process with four upcoming virtual meetings to evaluate options for restoring and managing grizzly bears in the North Cascades of Washington.

“The introduction of grizzly bears into the North Cascades would directly, and negatively, impact the people and the communities I represent,” said Rep. Newhouse. “My constituents and I have consistently opposed proposals to do so under multiple administrations because introducing an apex predator to the area would threaten the families, wildlife, and livestock of North Central Washington. It is disappointing that local voices are once again being ignored by federal bureaucrats, even after the last process was discontinued due to overwhelming local opposition. I strongly encourage the people of Central Washington to attend the virtual meetings in order to voice their opinion and put this misguided proposal to rest, once and for all.”

The National Park Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are hosting a series of four virtual public meetings to discuss grizzly bear restoration during the Public Scoping period, which runs from November 10-December 14, 2022. Each will present the same information and provide opportunity for questions.

Virtual public meetings will be held at the following times: 

Tuesday, November 15th at 12pm Pacific Time
Friday, November 18th at 7pm Pacific Time
Thursday, December 1st at 12pm Pacific Time
Friday, December 2nd at 7pm Pacific Time 

You may join the meeting on your computer or mobile device; additional details and information are available at https://parkplanning.nps.gov/NCEGrizzly. 

Background:

The North Cascades Grizzly Bear Restoration Plan/Environmental Impact Statement was first proposed by the Obama Administration. Central Washington communities surrounding the North Cascades National Park were not provided an adequate opportunity to give their input on the proposal. 

In March 2017, Rep. Newhouse wrote to North Cascades National Park Service Superintendent Karen Taylor-Goodrich to express opposition to the plan, citing an inadequate level of local community input and encouraging federal agencies to defer to state and local authorities on grizzly bear management efforts.

On April 12, 2018, Rep. Newhouse wrote a letter to former Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, expressing his deep concern regarding the then-Secretary’s support for the proposal. 

On June 6, 2018, the House Appropriations Committee approved Rep. Newhouse’s amendment to the FY19 Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act that would deny funding to the U.S. Department of Interior to be used for the transport of grizzly bears in the North Cascades until local communities had the chance to adequately submit their public comments. The amendment was included in the passage of the final FY19 Interior Appropriations language.

On July 19, 2018, the full House of Representatives approved legislation containing Rep. Newhouse’s amendment to deny funding used for the transport of grizzly bears in the North Cascades.

In October 2019, hundreds of North Central Washington residents attended a public listening session – requested by Rep. Newhouse – in Okanogan, Washington, where officials from the Department of the Interior and U.S. Fish and Wildlife listened to local concerns on the proposal to introduce grizzly bears into the North Cascades Ecosystem.

U.S. Department of the Interior Assistant Secretary for Fish & Wildlife Rob Wallace was at the Okanogan County Fairgrounds Agriplex as many of the more than 600 North Central Washington residents provided up to two minutes of oral comment on the record. As reported by Capital Press, 50 people spoke in opposition to grizzly bear introduction, and 12 people spoke in support. 

On July 7, 2020, Department of the Interior (DOI) Secretary David Bernhardt visited North Central Washington, where he announced after following the federal rulemaking process, reviewing hundreds of local public comments, and hosting a public comment listening session in Okanogan County last year, DOI concluded that grizzly bears will not be introduced into the North Cascades Ecosystem.

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