Wolf’s Return to California Stirs Debate

The return of wolves to their former haunts across the West has reached California, where a pack of wolves was spotted for the first time in decades last month, pitting conservationists against ranchers who worry the predators will prey on livestock. Still images of seven gray wolves—two adults and five frolicking pups—were captured in August on a trail camera in Siskiyou County near the Oregon border. The discovery of the pack took place four years after a single radio-collared wolf was detected crossing into California, for the first known time since the animal last existed in the Golden State in 1924. The arrival came as California wildlife officials were still trying to complete a wolf-management plan. Now, state officials are racing to get guidelines in place before conflicts arise, as they have in other Western states, with ranchers trying to defend their herds from predatory attacks, and with hunters who fear the animals will kill too many elk and deer. Since the gray wolf in California is listed as endangered under both federal and state law, ranchers can’t kill or harass them, unless permitted by regulation. “There’s nervousness and fear, because agriculture is the bread and butter of our economy,” said Supervisor Ray Haupt of Siskiyou County, a sparsely populated area of about 45,000 residents that includes the Mount Shasta volcano. But environmentalists say the wolf’s return is a cause for celebration, serving as another milestone in what they call one of the more successful wildlife recovery programs in the West...more