Range-riding wolf patrol shows signs of success

In a place where wolf recovery is about as divisive as politics or religion, one program is cutting through the controversy. For the last three summers, a pilot program has put patrols on the range to keep tabs on where the wolves are, and to check up on livestock that could be nearby. Funded by the state Department of Fish and Wildlife with a match from ranchers donated mostly by the nonprofit group Conservation Northwest, the program expanded last summer to include five ranchers with cattle or sheep grazing in areas now occupied by wolf packs. The idea is to prevent wolves from killing livestock. And so far, it’s working. Twisp cattle rancher Karla Christianson, who signed on last summer, said she was initially skeptical about the program. She said she wants to get along with the wolves, but after signing the contract with the state and Conservation Northwest, she wondered what she was getting into. Her cattle spend the summer in the same area where the Lookout Pack was discovered in 2008 as the state’s first wolf pack in 70 years. It’s also where she thinks wolves killed three of her calves in 2009. Jay Kehne, outreach coordinator for Conservation Northwest, and a Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife commissioner, said they started with one rancher in 2012, worked the bugs out and gradually built to five range riders last year. In addition to Christianson, they worked with ranchers in Stevens and Kittitas counties, and on the Colville Indian Reservation. When a rancher signs up for the Fish and Wildlife program, they’re eligible for up to $10,000 from the state to hire a range rider and pay for gas and other costs. “How they choose to use it is up to them,” he said. For the ranchers involved so far, Conser-vation Northwest has donated $9,000 for each of the five range riders hired. After three summers, ranchers who participated have not lost any livestock to wolves...more