Compensation for ranchers in the state’s wolf compensation program and cattle DNA in wolf scat were some topics presented by University of California (UC), Davis economists at the recent California Cattlemen’s Association (CCA) annual convention in late November.
Dr. Tina Saitone, professor of UC Cooperative Extension, and Dr. Ken Tate, professor of plant science at the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at UC Davis, discussed their multi-year study on the indirect impacts of wolf presence on cattle and the potential impact it could have on the state’s wolf compensation program.
Saitone said since wolves entered the state, the population has grown in geographic scope and population. According to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), there are seven packs within the state, including the recent identification of four unnamed packs. Saitone continued the unnamed packs are probably offshoots of the existing packs.
Saitone said that CDFW estimates a minimum of 39 wolves, but that number is probably higher. The population is expected to grow exponentially if the expansion continues, such as in the case of Oregon. In Oregon, there were 48 minimum wolves in 2012, and currently there are over 175 wolves. If California experiences the same growth rate, the state could have over 100 wolves in three years.
Saitone said as the population grows there is a concern wolves will establish a territory inbetween existing packs, posing a problem for ranchers as the wolves will be present in winter and summer grazing areas. According to Saitone, this is occurring with the Whaleback Pack in Siskiyou County.
Saitone and Tate placed trail cameras on nearly 100,000 acres in Lassen and Plumas counties as part of their research. Besides the predation of cows and calves, the cameras reveal wolves persistently chasing and dogging herds and individual animals throughout the day and evening, causing stress. Their research also started looking at scat in 2022. They partnered with the UC Davis Veterinary Genetics Laboratory to analyze wolf scat for the presence of cattle and identify wolves through DNA and their diets.
Last year, Saitone said they collected 59 samples in an “ad hoc” manner and identified 13 unique wolves from the Lassen Pack—game cameras identified 18 wolves in the Lassen Pack—and 86% of the scat collected had cattle DNA, and every sample had at least one unique animal’s DNA present.
“How can we reconcile that with the confirmed kills that we see on CDFW’s website?” Saitone asked. “We can’t, it’s just another way to push the discussion forward that this conflict is so much bigger than (CDFW) wants to recognize.”
In 2023, the team collected 310 samples during the summer in areas with other packs. The team looked at the familial relationships of the wolves and whether the expansion was due to population growth or wolves establishing themselves in new territories. The researchers are awaiting the results from the scat collected this year.
Compensation funding
Saitone and Tate hope their research will guide the funding needed for the state’s wolf compensation program.
According to CDFW, the legislature approved funding for CDFW to “develop a grant process to allocate funds to pay for the deterrence of wolf presence near livestock, the impacts of wolf presence on livestock, and for verified loss of livestock for participating ranchers.”
The compensation pilot program has a three-pronged approach to payment: compensation for depredation loss, non-lethal deterrents for wolf presence and payments for the impacts of wolf presence.
Saitone said the payment for presence program was implemented in May 2023 and covers situations such as lower calf weaning weights, lower conception rates and lower body condition scores due to wolves chasing the herd.
According to Saitone, the legislature allocated $3 million for the pilot program for claims retroactive to September 2021 and the program will remain in effect until 2026 or when the funds run out. Saitone spoke with CDFW, which indicated that $1.3 million has been allocated thus far, and there is a large payment backlog. Based on her conversation with producers in the affected areas, Saitone anticipated the funds would run out well before 2026.
Saitone said as part of their research they conducted “back of the envelope” calculations for the pay-for-presence prong for a lower estimate of 2% of fair market value in the Lassen and Plumas counties. The researchers concluded ranchers within that area should be paid approximately $916,000.
“If we start thinking about expanding geographies for packs and expanding not only from summer range to winter range, that number is going to get really large really quick,” Saitone said. “We need to also think about lobbying for much more than $3 million going forward.”
Lobbying in the future
Saitone expressed there are areas for improvement with the program, including having staff dedicated explicitly to program administration rather than using existing staff, and improved communication from CDFW of the status of applications and justification for their decisions. Saitone continued CDFW needs to better communicate with ranchers where wolves are and increase wolf GPS collaring to accomplish this.
Ranchers at the meeting also emphasized the need to collar more wolves to get accurate information about wolf presence, with one rancher believing it is a deliberate attempt by CDFW to avoid getting the information ranchers need.
Kirk Wilbur, vice president of government affairs at CCA, addressed the crowd and said the largest concern is ensuring the pilot program continues to be funded.
Wilbur said the legislature will be considering budget funding in the coming months and now is the time to begin lobbying ahead of the May revision when adjustments are made to the governor’s proposed budget in January. Wilbur noted that it is a deficit year presenting some challenges, and it would not behoove ranchers to make the compensation program permanent as it “will require a pretty big price tag.”
Wilbur said the biggest challenges in requesting funding will be the leadership changes in the legislature and the budget subcommittees and whether CDFW will oppose the funding request to continue the pilot program. Wilbur continued in years with a budget surplus the discussion could be whether to make the compensation program permanent, but it would be a policy issue, and the short-term focus should be on continued funding.
The wolf subcommittee decided to ask for $15 million over five years. — Charles Wallace, WLJ contributing editor
