House Republicans are now turning up the heat on Biden administration plans to reintroduce grizzly bears into the North Cascades region of Washington state.
Citing what they called strong public sentiment against the recently finalized grizzly plan, seven GOP members of the House Natural Resources Committee asked for myriad documents from the two agencies managing the species recovery project.
“The public record has made it clear that the relocation of grizzly bears is not welcomed in Washington state by the residents and many stakeholders the action would impact,” the lawmakers wrote in the letter sent Friday. “Rather, the Biden administration is once again bending to the agenda of ecoactivists who are largely located outside the region, ignoring input from local residents.”
The letter, led by the committee’s chair, Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.), enumerates 12 categories of information being sought, including “all documents and communications” between “third parties” and the National Park Service and the Fish and Wildlife Service concerning the grizzly bear plan. The committee members also want to see bear-related material sent to and from several specific environmental organizations, as well as from several state governments and the British Columbia Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations.
