An environmental group hopes to forcibly introduce grizzly bears into the Cascades Mountains of Washington so it filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government. The Department of Interior began researching the possibility of placing grizzlies in the North Cascades in 2015. It then hosted numerous public meetings and received overwhelming feedback against such action.
Despite that opposition from locals and others, the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) filed suit seeking to force the issue.
“People who live and work in north central Washington have made their voices clear that they do not want grizzly bears reintroduced into the North Cascades,” U.S. Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt said in July 2020. “Grizzly bears are not in danger of extinction, and Interior will continue to build on its conservation successes managing healthy grizzly bear populations across their existing range.”
In June 2020, CBD filed a different lawsuit seeking to force grizzly bears into Texas, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Oregon and Washington. Specific locations mentioned include California’s Sierra Nevada, the Selway-Bitterroot in Idaho and Montana, and the Grand Canyon.
(Photo source: Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks)