May 15, 2024
ISSUE 20
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WA Ranchers bearing brunt of grizzlies returning to North Cascades By Carleen Johnson The Center Square
Courtesy Geoff Olson Eatonville’s Ethan Carter stands with Coach Olson following his league championship clinching and school record-breaking vault of 14’2" at the 1A Evergreen League Championships.
Ethan Carter shatters pole vault record at 1A Evergreen League Championship By Skip Smith
Special to the Dispatch
Eatonville High School’s track and field teams showcased formidable performances at the 1A Evergreen League Championship held at Jack Rottle Field, Montesano High School. The girls’ team secured an impressive first-place overall finish, while the boys’ team clinched
3rd place. The competition saw Eatonville emerge as a dominant force, with 33 athletes set to compete in 28 different events at the upcoming SWW District 4 meet. One standout moment came from Ethan Carter in the pole vault. Carter shattered the Eatonville High School record with an astonishing jump of 14-feet 2-inches. This remarkable feat surpassed the previous record of 14’1” set by
Jahmai Judah in 2019. In total, Eatonville now boasts League Champions in nine different events, with seven for the girls and two for the boys. Those remarkable championship finishes include Jenae Roulst’s triumph in the 100m; Kelani Monserrate’s victories in the 200m and 400m; Lily Lightfoot’s dominance in the 100m Hurdles; the remarkable performances of the CARTER Page 4Æ
After years of discussion and public meetings, the National Park Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have signed a final agreement to bring grizzly bears back to the North Cascades Mountain range. The plan calls for a “founder population” of 25 bears over the next five to 10 years, releasing the animals in remote parts of the forest. The decision is not without controversy with federal lawmakers and WA cattle ranchers objecting, arguing their concerns have fallen on deaf ears. To restore the bears to the North Cascades, the federal agencies will undergo a translocation process that will bring in grizzlies from other ecosystems in the Rocky Mountains or interior British Columbia, according to a spokesman for the National Park Service who spoke Monday with The Center Square. Jason Ransom is the Wildlife Program Supervisor with the North Cascades National Park Service. “The last confirmed grizzly bear sighting in this part of the U.S. was 1996 and that was right about the same time the recovery chapter under the endangered species act was developed for the North Cascades, to basically say ‘how do we recover these bears," said Ransom. “Grizzly bears were killed by people here directly and there’s still the habitat here, the resources here for them and the ecosystem for them here is huge.” “We have the chance to put them back,” says Ransom. But why restore the species to a region that has been grizzly-bear free for decades? Proponents argue it will make the overall ecosystem healthier. “Our culture had a war on these species and we know better now, and this is a chance for us to tell a different story,” said Gordon Congdon, a retired orchardist and conservationist who lives in Wenatchee, Washington." “We think by restoring the grizzly bear, that improves the ecology of the environment, which benefits other animals and benefits the diversity of habitat.” As to the concerns raised by ranchers and BEARS Page 5Æ