Range riders help ranchers deter wolves

Before the sun breaks over the mountains, Leisa Hill is firing up a generator in a remote cow camp in eastern Stevens County. Soon she'll be poring over satellite data points on her laptop, tracking the recent wanderings of a GPS-collared wolf. Hill is a range rider whose family grazes 1,300 head of cattle in the Smackout pack's territory. Knowing the collared wolf's whereabouts helps her plan her day. She'll spend the next 12 to 16 hours visiting the scattered herd by horseback or ATV. Through the regular patrols, she's alerting the Smackout pack that cattle aren't easy prey. Her work is paying off. Last year, 100 percent of the herd returned from the U.S. Forest Service allotments and private pastures that provide summer and fall forage. This year's count isn't final, but the tallies look promising, said Hill's dad, John Dawson. "We've lost nothing to wolves," he said. Hill's range rider work is part of a pilot that involves two generations of a northeastern Washington ranch family, the state and Conservation Northwest. The aim is to keep Washington's growing wolf population out of trouble. Conservation Northwest helps finance three range riders in Washington — the Dawsons in Stevens County, and others in Cle Elem and Wenatchee. Hiring a range rider costs $15,000 to $20,000 for the five-month grazing season, Kehne said. The state and individual ranchers, including Dawson, also contribute to the cost. In addition, the state Department of Fish and Wildlife provides daily satellite downloads on GPS-collared wolves to help range riders manage the cows. Collared wolves are known as "Judas wolves" for betraying the pack's location. The downloads give the wolves' locations for the past 24 hours, though the system isn't foolproof, said Jay Shepherd, a state wildlife conflict specialist. Dense stands of trees can block signals, and the timing of satellite orbits affects data collection...more