YOUR DUES DOLLARS AT WORK NOT A MOMENT TOO SOON
CALIFORNIA CATTLE PRODUCERS FINALLY SEE NEXT PHASE OF WOLF MANAGEMENT PLAN by CCA Vice President of Government Affairs Kirk Wilbur In light of increased attention in recent months to the challenges presented by growing gray wolf populations – and amid enhanced scrutiny of state policy regarding the species – the April edition of California Cattleman overviewed CCA’s lobbying efforts regarding wolves since a wolf designated OR-7 first forayed into northern California in 2011. In the weeks since the publication of that article, however, gray wolves have only attracted stronger attention throughout the state. Sierra and Plumas counties have followed the lead of the Modoc County Board of Supervisors, with both counties declaring local emergencies due to public safety threats posed by gray wolves and requesting changes in state and federal law enabling sheriffs to remove specific gray wolves they deem to pose public safety threats. Wolves have also garnered increased media attention, partly in response to the local emergencies declared by Modoc, Plumas and Sierra counties and partly in response to a recent U.C. Davis report from Dr. Ken Tate and Dr. Tina Saitone quantifying the direct and indirect
16 California Cattleman May/June 2025
financial impacts of gray wolves upon livestock producers, which found that one wolf can result in between up to $162,000 per year in economic losses for the state’s cattle producers. The Los Angeles Times, the fifth-largest newspaper in the country, even profiled Prather Ranch, which has suffered chronic depredations from Siskiyou County’s Whaleback Pack. At the same time, there have been significant developments in state policy concerning gray wolves and CCA has enhanced its already-robust lobbying efforts on the issues, warranting additional reporting on the topic. CDFW Announces Transition to Phase 2 On April 2, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife announced that “California is now in ‘Phase 2’ of wolf management.” According to the Conservation Plan for Gray Wolves in California finalized by the Department in December of 2016, the state would move into the second of three phases of wolf management once the agency confirmed at least four breeding pairs of gray wolves in the state for two successive years. The agency confirmed a minimum of four breeding pairs in the state at the end of 2023 and a minimum of five breeding pairs at the end of 2024, officially triggering the transition to Phase 2 of wolf management under the Conservation Plan. It is worth noting that CDFW does not use the terms “pack” and “breeding pair” interchangeably. A “pack” is merely “two or more wolves traveling together,” whereas a breeding pair comprises at least one adult male and one adult female as well as