Biologist to address grizzly recovery

The grizzly bear is not a terrible beast that spends its days roaming the countryside looking for things to kill and eat. But it’s no teddy bear either.

“The real bear is somewhere in between,” said Bill Gaines, a wildlife biologist who spent three years roaming the North Cascades looking for – but finding no solid evidence of – grizzly bears in its 9,500-square-mile recovery area.

Gaines is now roaming the Northwest’s cities and towns, giving presentations on grizzly bears in advance of a three-year analysis by the federal government to find the best way to recover grizzlies here.

Gaines said he won’t get deeply into the issue of whether the National Park Service should trap grizzlies from other healthy populations and move them to the North Cascades, where officials believe fewer than 20 exist.

The issue of relocating grizzlies to the North Cascades will be the main focus of the alternatives presented in the agency’s environmental impact statement, expected to take three years.

Gaines said he’s trying to raise awareness about grizzly bears so that people are more informed when the National Park Service starts hosting meetings around the state on the recovery process this spring.

The bear’s recovery zone includes federal, state and private land from the Canadian border to Interstate 90, and it includes the North Cascades National Park and portions of the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest. That’s where federal agencies hope to restore a sustainable population.

Gaines’ presentation, “Ghost Bears: Studying Grizzly Bears in Washington’s North Cascades Ecosystem,” includes a history of grizzlies in the North Cascades, what led to their decline, and the results of his study to try to find one.

Gaines has already spoken in a half-dozen cities that surround the bear’s recovery area, including Wenatchee and Ellensburg. On Tuesday, he’ll offer the free presentation in Twisp.