SPOKANE, Wash. The forested mountains in and around North Cascades National Park in north central Washington state have long been considered prime habitat for threatened grizzly bears, so environmental groups are upset the Trump administration scrapped plans to reintroduce the apex predators there.
Grizzly bears only occupy less than 5% of their historic range, and the North Cascades presents prime habitat for grizzly bears,'' said Andrea Zaccardi, an attorney with the group.
"Their recovery there is critical to the overall recovery of grizzly bears in the U.S.The center contends the North Cascades could support more than 700 grizzly bears over 9,000 square miles of habitat.
Federal grizzly bear recovery plans are mandated by the Endangered Species Act and require grizzly recovery in the North Cascades, Gunnell said.
Now the largest concentration of grizzlies, numbering less than 1,800, are around Montana's Glacier National Park and around Yellowstone National Park.