Wolf Friendly Beef

Since the reintroduction of wolves to the Southwest, many ranchers in that area are up in arms about the government program that brings predators onto the same land where ranchers keep their cattle. "Why in the world would I welcome a predator that could wipe me out of business?" asks Daisy Mae Cannon, President of the Greenlee County Cattle Grower's Association. "It just makes no sense," she says. Cannon says every rancher she knows agrees with her. She says ranchers are losing cattle right and left to wolves that eat them. And, she says, ranchers on public lands can't do anything about it; the government imposes a steep fine and jail time for anyone who gets caught shooting a wolf...
But not all ranchers see wolves as a problem. Will and Jan Holder are infamous among their colleagues of ranchers in Greenlee County, Arizona. Will's family has been in ranching for generations, in fact, his grandfather shot the last known wild wolf in the area. But Jan is a self-described "city girl" and when the couple started their own ranch, they set out to do things differently. The Holders run Ervin's Natural Beef, one of a handful of ranches working with environmental group, Defenders of Wildlife in the "Wolf Country Beef" Program. In order to be allowed to use the Wolf Country Beef label on their products, ranchers must sign an agreement with Defenders of Wildlife. They agree to eliminate the use of lethal and non-selective methods of controlling predators (like leg-hold traps and aerial gunning). They also agree to allow wolf re-colonization on their private lands and agree to cooperate with wolf project personnel...