After reading through this thread, it strikes me that if sasquatch were "but a mere wood ape" and the government knew of it, as seems to be the concensus, it would have been acknowledged long ago. There would be no big deal if there was a large American forest gorilla species. Which then compels one to reason there must be considerably more to it.
The foot morphology certainly seems to point to a far more human creature, as does the bipedal walking, and apparently opposable thumbs. And then there's its apparent cognitive abilities, as seen in their knack for stealth and existing on the periphery of our towns and cities. Then there's the evidence of language development, another indicator of a higher sentience. And that's not even touching on the elements of woo...
But in light of the silence, its difficult to presume just how the feds view these creatures, but I'd hazard the guess that they know a good deal more about them than most of us do.....