Newhouse on Grizzly Bears in North Cascades Pt 1
I'm Bob Larson. The Grizzly Bear restoration plan for the North Cascades is a bad idea!
In a strongly-worded letter last week to the National Park Service and the Department of Fish and Wildlife, U.S. Representative Dan Newhouse stated his opposition to the plan because it gives so little consideration to the people most impacted ...
DAN NEWHOUSE ... "I really think that the federal government has to listen to the people of the local area, to the state of Washington, on this reintroduction issue. They need to evaluate the need for reintroducing Grizzly Bears and also all of the impacts it would have on our local communities or local businesses, the folks living right there that would potentially have bears literally in their backyard. That should be the loudest voices that the agencies hear."
Newhouse says most of the support comes from people "without a dog in the fight" ...
DAN NEWHOUSE ... "It's very easy for someone who lives miles from the affected area to be in support of reintroduction of a species, any species, but in the case the Grizzly Bear, if you don't have to deal with it on a daily basis. That's why I think it makes sense, a lot of sense to me, that the federal government needs to listen to exactly those people that would be impacted, their livelihoods, their families, they're the ones that should have the biggest say in this."
Listen tomorrow for more on the potential problems and available options.
