HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017-03-13-minutes-presentation-from-fish-&-wildlife2017-03-13 MINUTES 1
COMMISSIONERS' MINUTES
KITTITAS COUNTY, WASHINGTON
COMMISSIONER’S AUDITORIUM
SPECIAL MEETING
MONDAY 11:00 A.M. MARCH 13, 2017
Board members present: Chairman Obie O’Brien; Vice-Chairman Paul
Jewell & Commissioner Laura Osiadacz.
Others: Mandy Buchholz, Deputy Clerk of the Board II; Jack Oelfke,
Chief of Resources, North Cascades National Park Service Complex;
Gregg Kurz, Carnivore Biologist, US Fish and Wildlife Service,
Washington Fish and Wildlife Office and six members of the public.
SPECIAL MEETING GRIZZLY BEAR PRESENTATION COMMISSIONERS
At 11:00 a.m. Chairman Jewell opened a Special Meeting to receive a
presentation from Fish & Wildlife regarding the North Cascades
Grizzly Restoration.
Jack Oelfke, Chief of Natural and Cultural Resources, North Cascades
National Park Service Complex presented a power point presentation
that covered the following: Grizzly Bear current and historical
range in lower 48 states; timeline (1975-2014); Grizzly Bear
recovery zones; North Cascades ecosystem recovery zone; Grizzly Bear
Environmental Impact Statement(EIS); draft Grizzly Bear Restoration
Plan/EIS January 2017; alternatives A-D; criteria for source area
bears; proposed grizzly bear release areas; guidelines for grizzly
control actions; environmental consequences summary; EIS & key
milestones; how to comment on the plan/EIS; goal of public
review/comment period & response to substantive comments.
Jack Oelfke, Chief of Natural and Cultural Resources, North Cascades
National Park Service Complex provided a summary of the grizzly bear
restoration plan that started in 1997. He addressed the bear
recovery in Montana and Idaho and he said that the current plan for
grizzly bear restoration in the North Cascades ecosystem was ready
for public comments following which, it would be finalized and
implemented. Mr. Oelfke said that the goal was to reach a population
of 200 bears with a caring capacity of 280 and that the plan
outlined 4 alternatives to bear recovery in the North Cascades:
Alternative A: No action. Discontinue the plan they had been working
on for 20 years, focus instead on habitat management and see if
bears migrate into the region on their own.
Alternative B: Approach recovery slowly. Import 10 bears in the
first two years and evaluate, after the 4th year meet to decide how
to move forward in reaching their goal of 200 bears (which could
take up to 100 years).
2017-03-13 MINUTES 2
Alternative C: Import 25 bears & monitor them noting it could take
60 - 100 years to reach a population of 200 bears.
Alternative D: Import 5 – 7 bears a year for as long as it takes to
reach 200 bears through natural means. This would take approximately
25 years. Mr. Oelfke informed the Commissioners that since this plan
was an experiment, they had greater flexibility within it for
managing any bears that came into conflict with farmers, miners,
and those in forestry. He said a management plan would be worked on
once the grizzly restoration plan was completed. He said that the
primary source of bear population would be coming from British
Columbia and Montana where there are healthy bear populations that
feed on food sources that the North Cascades also had: berries,
grubs and small mammals. He said that not a lot of bears feed on
fish.
Mr. Oelfke discussed the environmental consequences of whether or
not bears were reintroduced to the North Cascades. He said the bears
would see benefits, black bears would be impacted minimally, the
recreational experience would be impacted positively, there was low
potential for bear/human conflict, low potential for impacts to
agriculture, livestock, and mining, and positive impacts for the
tribes.
There was roundtable Q&A between the Board members and Jack Oelfke,
Chief of Resources, North Cascades National Park Service Complex &
Gregg Kurz, Carnivore Biologist, US Fish and Wildlife Service,
Washington Fish and Wildlife Office. There was discussion on the
caring capacity and the analysis done on the caring capacity.
Mr. Oelfke said that comments regarding the grizzly bear restoration
plan, and which of the 4 alternatives were preferred, were being
accepted through a “new” deadline of April 28, 2017. He stated that
implementation would be at a minimum of a year if not longer. He
said the plan could be found at
www.parkplanning.nps.gov/grizzlydeis.
The Board thanked Mr. Oelfke and Mr. Kurz for agreeing to attend the
meeting and apologized that none of them were able to make it to the
presentation they did in the Upper County in February due to
scheduling conflicts. The Board indicated that they would prepare a
response in the near future to be considered as part of the record.
Meeting adjourned at 12:10 p.m.
KITTITAS COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
DEPUTY CLERK OF THE BOARD KITTITAS COUNTY, WASHINGTON
2017-03-13 MINUTES 3
Mandy Buchholz Paul Jewell, Chairman