As wolf packs grow in California, cattle ranchers face mounting losses
On the California-Oregon border, in the shadow of Mount Shasta, Axel Hunnicutt, state wolf coordinator for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, is on the hunt for the gray wolf.
"Because it is potentially a kill site, we will be, you know, kind of cautious," Hunnicutt told CBS News.
Once nearly extinct in the United States, wolves are making a comeback in California.
Trail cameras show wolf packs in Siskiyou County. They're healthy and well-fed, partly because these wolves have developed a taste for beef. The Department of Fish and Wildlife says there are now 10 packs in the state, with three discovered this year.
Ranchers Jim and Mary Rickert said that in the last year, they've lost 16 cows to confirmed wolf attacks, with 60 suspected kills.
"It really eats into your herd and to your bottom line. It's hard for a lot of us to stay in business," Mary Rickert told CBS News.
The first gray wolf wandered back into California by accident in 2011, according to the state. Wolves in the state soon became the most protected in the country, listed as endangered by both the federal and state governments.
There are consequences for killing wolves, including jail time, the Rickerts said.
"And so, we are really defenseless," Mary Rickert said.
The state's population surged to between 50 to 70 wolves in a decade. California is now helping ranchers with a wolf-tracking map and possibly allowing more aggressive deterrents, such as shooting off bean bag rounds.
"They need a negative lesson in order to have that reinforcement," Hunnicutt said.
Rancher Janna Gliatto said she's lost almost 50 animals, despite trying "every deterrent that has ever been known or suggested." The ranch had to hire a night watchman.
"We're probably paying about $70,000 to $100,000" a year, Gliatto said.
California has already spent more than $3 million compensating ranchers for their losses, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. The state Legislature in 2021 appropriated the funds to develop a Wolf-Livestock Compensation Pilot Program based on the need to address direct livestock loss, nonlethal deterrents and to pay for presence, according to the department.
But the money has run out; the California Department of Fish and Wildlife said funds were exhausted in March 2024. Now the state says it's only paying for confirmed wolf kills, not deterrents.
"The wolves, they're expensive. And if the state of California wants to sustain these sort of numbers, then it's going to be a costly project," Gliatto said.
"It should not be our job to feed the wolves," she added.
Patrick Griffin agrees. He investigates wolf attacks so ranchers can get paid.
"Wolves need tolerant people to survive. That's the bottom line. If there's no compensation, tolerance goes away over a period of time," Griffin told CBS News.
It's a price California taxpayers may have to pay — for the love of wolves.
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