Could you have a run-in with a bear? Grizzlies coming to the Northwest

Two federal agencies, the National Park Service (NPS) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, say they’re bringing grizzly bears to a national park in the Northwest. The decision to actively restore grizzly bears to the North Cascades of Washington is apt to bring mixed reactions in the public. Could RVers have a run-in with a bear?

North Cascades—You may have been there

North Cascades National Park spans more than 500,000 acres, in three units. For RVers, you’ve probably traveled through portions of the park if you’ve ever driven Washington SR 20—the North Cascades Highway. It’s a beautiful, but definitely seasonal, route which shuts down each winter when snow makes it impassible. Another popular spot is the Lake Chelan National Recreation Area—but you’ve probably never taken your RV there. Access to it from the U.S. is via passenger ferry—another run we highly recommend.

But back to the bears. Grizzly bears occupied the North Cascades region for thousands of years as a key part of the ecosystem, distributing native plant seeds and keeping other wildlife populations in balance. Populations declined primarily due to direct killing by humans. The last confirmed sighting of a grizzly bear in the U.S. portion of the North Cascades ecosystem was in 1996.

In the Record of Decision released today, April 25, the two agencies have decided to restore grizzly bears to the North Cascades ecosystem through the translocation of grizzly bears from other ecosystems in the Rocky Mountains or interior British Columbia. NPS and Fish and Wildlife will seek to move three to seven grizzly bears per year for a period of five to 10 years to establish an initial population of 25 bears.

After “translocation,” could RVers have a run-in with a bear?

The U.S. portion of the North Cascades ecosystem is roughly 9,800 square miles in size, larger than the state of New Jersey, and contains some of the most intact wildlands in the contiguous U.S. Roughly 85% of the mountainous region is under federal management. That’s a lot of ground for 25 bears. So what’s the likelihood that you and your motorhome will have a run-in with a grizzly in the park?

To put it simply: pretty darn little. Of the three open campgrounds in the park, all are fairly near “the beaten path” of trafficked highways, and not anywhere deep into the national park complex. Grizzly bears would be released in remote wilderness areas on NPS or U.S. Forest Service lands, including areas within the Stephen Mather, Pasayten, and Glacier Peak wilderness areas—far from anywhere you and Tommy Travel Trailer could ever get. The “bear moving company,” if you will, is quick to point out that bears previously involved in human–bear conflicts in other ecosystems will not be considered for translocation.

Nope, don’t know when, yet

So when will the bears be coming? The news release from the Park Service says, “There is no set timeline for when translocation of grizzly bears to the ecosystem may begin. The National Park Service will publish updates on the park website and notify partners and the public of implementation plans as they develop.”

All things considered, when you fall asleep at night in the park, you can rest easy. While they will eventually be there, it’s not likely you’ll have a run-in with a bear.

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