A chance encounter back in October 2010, and some quick shots with a cellphone, led wildlife officials at the time to say there were still a few grizzlies roaming the North Cascades in Washington State/Joe Sebille

Editor's note: This updates with officials saying the 2010 photograph later was put into question because of another set of photos that showed a black bear with a similar hump.

More than six years after a hiker photographed what experts at the time said was a grizzly bear in North Cascades National Park in upstate Washington, the National Park Service is proposing to help the bruins repopulate the park via a recovery plan that seeks to establish a self-sustaining population of 200 grizzlies.

Joe Sebille captured the photo on his cellphone in late October 2010. Only after he stopped to chat with a park ranger in May 2011 did he think about getting a ranger's thoughts of what he had photographed. And when he opened up his iPhone, Mr. Sebille triggered a wave of excitement that swept all the way to Montana, where a team of grizzly bear experts agreed that the hump-backed bruin in the picture was indeed a grizzly, the first to be captured on film on the U.S. side of the North Cascades in decades.

Not long afterward, though, another hiker produced photographs of a black bear with a grizzly-looking hump on its back that he took in the same general area where Mr. Sebille took his photo. Since there was no way to confirm what type of bear Mr. Sebille photographed without DNA evidence, officials backed off on the type of bear he saw. As a result of that decision, officials say the last-known sighting of grizzlies in the U.S. portion of the North Cascades Ecosystem was in 1996.

For more than two decades biologists have been working to recover the North Cascades' grizzlies, a threatened species. And while more than a few reports of grizzly sightings in the ecosystem that stretches north to Canada are received by state and federal officials each year, most turn out to be black bears.

Now the National Park Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have released for public review a draft document that examines how a grizzly bear population might be established in the park. The alternatives are described in the draft Grizzly Bear Restoration Plan/Environmental Impact Statement.

“In some of our most rugged national parks, we’ve celebrated incredible successes for wildlife over the past several years, and grizzly bear recovery is the next opportunity,” said Rob Smith, Northwest regional director for National Parks Conservation Association. “In the Northwest, we’ve seen salmon populations rebound in Olympic National Park after the Elwha and Glines Canyon Dams were removed. And just this winter, Pacific fishers were successfully reintroduced at Mount Rainier. The time to restore grizzly bears in the North Cascades Ecosystem is now.”

The purpose of the EIS is to determine what actions, if any, should be taken to restore the grizzly bear to the North Cascades Ecosystem. An upcoming series of public meetings and the general public comment period are to gather comments regarding the draft EIS; public comments received on the draft EIS will be evaluated and considered in the identification of the preferred alternative, which will be published in the Final EIS. 

The alternatives analyzed in this draft EIS include a “no-action” alternative, plus three action alternatives that would seek to restore a reproducing population of approximately 200 bears through the capture and release of grizzly bears into the North Cascades Ecosystem. The alternatives were developed by a planning team with input from the public, local, state and federal agencies, and the scientific community.

“Grizzly bears are highly intelligent, charismatic animals,” said Joe Scott, International Programs director for Conservation Northwest. “For many Northwesterners they are the very embodiment of wildness. Returning this magnificent animal to the North Cascades is a rare opportunity to restore our natural heritage. But we will need to work together - public agencies, local communities, First Nations, conservation, backcountry users and rural economic interests to do so; and so that it works for everyone. Then we will have cemented our wildlife legacy by leaving the North Cascades a bit wilder for future generations.”

In addition to the open houses, the public is invited to submit written comments at this site. Comments may also be submitted through March 14 via regular mail or hand delivery at: Superintendent’s Office, North Cascades National Park Service Complex, 810 State Route 20, Sedro Woolley, WA 98284

In order to maximize opportunities for public input, webinars are scheduled for Tuesday, February 14 from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Pacific Time and Sunday, February 26 from 5 p.m.-7 p.m. Pacific Time.

For more information about the open houses and to register for the webinars, visit this site and click on the “Meetings” link.

The public open houses will be held from 6 p.m.-8 p.m. at the following locations:

• Cle Elum – February 13 at the Putnam Centennial Center
• Cashmere – February 14 at the Riverside Center
• Winthrop – February 15 at the Red Barn
• Omak – February 16 at the Annex Facility at Okanogan County Fairgrounds
• Bellingham – February 21 at Oxford Suites, 4051 Meridian St.
• Darrington – February 22 at the Darrington Community Center
• Sultan – February 23 at the Sultan High School
• Renton – February 24 at the Renton Community Center

The grizzly bear was listed as a threatened species in the contiguous United States in 1975. The species was listed as endangered by the state of Washington in 1980.

The North Cascades Ecosystem encompasses 9,800 square miles in the United States and another 3,800 square miles in British Columbia, Canada. The United States portion of the ecosystem includes North Cascades National Park, Ross Lake National Recreation Area, Lake Chelan National Recreation Area, Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, and Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest.

The U.S. Forest Service and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife are cooperating agencies on the EIS. Funding for the EIS is provided by the NPS. The U.S. Forest Service, FWS and other cooperating agencies and partners will provide technical support throughout.

For more information on grizzly bear recovery, visit this site.

Woodland Park Zoo, Northwest Trek, Conservation Northwest, Defenders of Wildlife, National Parks Conservation Association and the National Wildlife Federation are among the founding partners of the Friends of the North Cascades Grizzly Bear Coalition, an independent and informal partnership supporting grizzly bear restoration. Since the organization’s launch in May of 2016, more than two dozen organizations, businesses and tribes and over two thousand supporting individuals have signed on as Friends of the North Cascades Grizzly Bear.