Monday, December 19, 2016

Feds release latest funding for wolf, rancher programs

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced its latest round of funding to help ranchers affected by or living near wolves earlier this month. Nationwide, the grants amount to $900,000. One-third of that money will go toward projects in Arizona and New Mexico. The Fish and Wildlife Service’s Wolf Livestock Demonstration Grant Program offers two types of matching, competitive grants to states and tribes. One compensates livestock owners when wolves are proven to have killed their animals. The other helps fund projects to prevent those conflicts from happening in the first place. Some of the strategies being used and explored include include keeping livestock within electrified fence hung with red flagging (also called “turbo fladry”) that discourages wolves, consolidating livestock during calving season, using range riders, reducing the presence of things like carcasses and afterbirth that attract wolves, using guardian dogs (versus herding dogs) to protect livestock and using scare tools like automated lights and alarms...more

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