Joint Record of Decision

With a Record of Decision signed in April 2024, the National Park Service and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service have decided to actively restore grizzly bears to the North Cascades of Washington, where the animals once roamed. The agencies will 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. The decision is the culmination of an Environmental Impact Statement process that began in 2022.

Under the decision, grizzly bears in the North Cascades will be designated as a nonessential experimental population under section 10(j) of the Endangered Species Act. The designation will provide authorities and land managers with additional tools for management that would not otherwise be available under existing Endangered Species Act regulations. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service final 10(j) rule was published in the Federal Register on May 3rd, 2024.

Document Content:

GrizzlyBearRestoration_ROD_Final_Signed.pdf   (2.5 MB, PDF file) 20240503_10jRule_Final_FR.pdf   (4.7 MB, PDF file) Disclaimer: Links within the above document(s) were valid as of the date published. Note: Some of the files may be in PDF format and can be viewed using the Adobe Acrobat Reader software. You may download a free copy of from Adobe Systems.