The Biden Team seems to mess up everything they touch and get involved in.
From trying to ban gas appliances to the border crisis, the Biden Administration is one big mess.
And now, his team is pushing a new proposal that has people shaking in their hiking boots.
Biden administration wants to increase grizzly bear population
Grizzly bears are one of the most dangerous apex predators in North America.
But now, the Biden administration wants to release more grizzly bears into some federally managed forest areas located in northern Washington state.
Several Republicans are asking for additional time so that citizens can voice their concerns about the proposal.
The request comes from Congressional Western Caucus Chairman Dan Newhouse, a Republican, and five other GOP lawmakers.
The group asked Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) Director Martha Williams and National Park Service (NPS) Director Charles Sams to extend the public comment period on the grizzly bear proposal to 180 days.
They also asked that agencies hold more in-person meetings with local community members who are deeply concerned about the impact the reintroduction would have on their safety.
In a statement, Newhouse said, “Time and again, northern Washingtonians have expressed their deep concerns about the introduction of grizzlies into the North Cascades, as they are a danger to the safety of their communities.”
Newhouse also said that despite many people opposing the new proposal, “the Biden administration is set on moving forward with the introduction of these apex predators against the will of locals.”
The FWS and NPS released a joint proposal to reintroduce grizzly bears throughout North Cascades National Park late last month.
Three options were included in the proposal, two of which would actively restore populations of grizzly bears, while one “no action” option would continue to maintain the current management practices already in place.
The proposal states that the federal government would release up to seven grizzly bears each year into the Northern Cascades ecosystem over the next five to 10 years.
Ultimately, the administration’s goal would be to have approximately 200 of the bears living in the area by the end of the next few decades.
The NPS says that grizzly bears living in the North Cascades are an “essential part of the ecosystem,” and have been for thousands of years.
But because of overhunting, the species was almost driven to extinction, and the last confirmed sighting of a grizzly bear in the area was in 1996.
Federal law overriding state law
According to the letter sent by the GOP lawmakers, the federal government is “once again circumventing state law and attempting to move forward with the introduction of grizzlies.”
But these plans have already been in discussion, going as far back as the Obama administration.
During that time, Newhouse led opposition to the proposal, and the Trump administration determined that the government would not release the bears back into the ecosystem.
In July 2020, former Interior Secretary David Bernhardt noted that grizzly bears were not in danger of extinction and that the agency could manage the populations already living within their existing range.
However, the Biden administration decided it would review whether to restore the bear population after extensive litigation from environmental groups.
In the meantime, people in these small communities in Washington are left to wait and wonder whether they or their loved ones could eventually become victims of a grizzly bear attack.
