Stehekin Resident, Dick Bingham, Asks Some Grizzly Questions

Hello from Stehekin

I have many questions regarding the NPS / US F&W services plan to, again, add Grizzly Bears to the North Cascades NP Complex.

Question #! –
What do you NOT understand about North Central Eastern Washington residents NOT wanting Grizzly bears transferred from other places to our region.

Question #2 –
What do you expect to happen when, like at Glacier National Park where many trails are closed to visitors, trails inside the NCNP complex have to be closed due to Grizzly activity and traditional hiker users have to choose another location to recreate? There will be many unhappy campers!

Question #3 –
During the last effort by the NCNP to introduce Grizzly Bears, we who live at Stehekin were shocked by the revelation that Stehekin was NOT on the maps or discussion sections in their plan! Apparently we – Stehekin residents – do NOT count as important to the NCNP managers. Why is this the case ? Is it due to incompetent planners or just folks who “just WANT to have Grizzly Bears in the area to make it seem really wild.”

Question #4 –
WHAT and WHERE is the historic documentation that supports the view that huge numbers of Grizzly Bears were hunted-out of the North Central part of WA-State. Please present this information at any public meetings and in your EIS documentation. If historical material is found that counters this premise, the documentation the final EIS presents should be considered bogus and presented as something to bamboozle Stehekin residents and those who live in the affected regions in order to please those who live elsewhere that like the idea of Grizzly Bears in the NCNP.. It will certainly spell the death-knell for Stehekin property owners’ hope of reopening the road to Cottonwood Campground!

During a family vacation to Glacier National Park a few years ago, I asked an “Interp Ranger” for his off-the-record opinion about the Grizzly situation (asked after seeing multiple trail-head closures.) His reply was “It is out of control”.

I, for one, do not want this to be repeated at the NCNP complex and especially in the Stehekin environment.

BASICALLY, transferring Grizzly Bears to our area will be the equivalent of placing signs at each entry to the complex saying “Keep Out, Survivors Will Be Prosecuted”…

As a final thought, WHY in the face of “The debate over grizzly bear introduction in Washington state is nothing new. In 1995, Washington lawmakers mandated by law that grizzly bears “shall not be transplanted or introduced into the state.” do the NCNP and U.S F&W services persist in this activity?

Dick Bingham